‘Party alliances should be made in good time’

The need for party coalitions is one of the sticky issues raised as Malawi gets closer to May 2014, when the country will hold tripartite elections to elect the president, members of Parliament and councillors. Nandini Patel, a political science expert, explains more on political coalitions.

Q: What are coalitions and why do parties get into them?

A:

Alliance, coalition, merger are terms used interchangeably to refer to coming together of two or more political parties either before or after general elections or at any time of political crisis to ensure political stability. Thus, parties can join hands at anytime they see a need for it. An electoral alliance can be defined as coming together of two or more parties before an election to increase their winning chances. Coalition on the other hand is coming together of parties after an election to form a government when the winning party has not obtained the required numbers to form government and needs support of other party or parties to get the number to form the government. Coalition governments are common in parliamentary systems like Britain, Germany, India, Israel, Mauritius, Lesotho and many others. But, presidential governments like Malawi also form coalitions of sorts for getting the support of the opposition parties for specific purposes.

Q: Is there anything that requires political parties in Malawi to go into coalition?

A:

In the last two decades, political parties in Malawi have entered into both alliances and coalitions almost on a regular basis. The first electoral alliance was in the run up to 1994 elections when parties like MNDP, UPND, CSR, SDP joined with UDF and put up the candidature of Bakili Muluzi as their presidential candidate. Being a presidential system of government political parties in Malawi do not require to go into coalition – not for forming the government as in the case of parliamentary systems. However, Parliament’s support is necessary in the governance process. This was proven in the post 1994 elections scenario where the UDF won the presidency but did not secure a working majority in the National Assembly and in 1995, the UDF and Aford entered into a coalition. This coalition though was short-lived and had many ramifications for the respective parties. Electoral alliances were also formed in all the subsequent elections of 1999, 2004, 2009 and there are strong possibilities for alliance/s for 2014. Suffice to say both alliance and coalition have been integral part of Malawi’s multiparty democracy. Unfortunately, poor planning, lack of foresight, have rendered these alliances short-lived, almost nonexistent after elections.

Q:

What is the right time for parties to go into alliances and/or coalitions?

A: Party leaders in Malawi tend to enter into alliance at a time too close to elections, like the UDF MCP alliance of 2009 where the alliance was agreed at the eleventh hour before the elections and it was more of a personal contract of leaders leaving the party officials and the voters confused and frustrated. Alliances should be formed as to give adequate time for leadership to consult the rank and file so that lasting alliance strategies are formulated and there is clear understanding both within the party and between the party and its supporters. At least over two months before the nominations for elections, so that common objectives, policies and strategies are arrived at and adequately discussed and thought through. Past electoral alliances, as we know were rushed and ill conceived not taking broader issues into account, which not surprisingly weakened the three traditional parties and gave birth to many new parties.

Q: Why do coalitions fail to work in Malawi?

A:

Pre-electoral alliances are not a product of political parties’ determined, collective and concerted efforts. As said earlier they are ill conceived personal designs with narrow and self- centred objectives. For example, agreement of the nature of Tembo, Chihana support for Muluzi’s third term is not what can be called coalition of parties but agreement between party presidents at the cost of their parties and of democracy at large. Weak and compromised leadership weakens political parties in turn weakening the Parliament and principally, it is oversight role and finally the entire democratic fabric.

Coalitions like Mgwirizano of 2004 did not work because of ‘outside’ interference in the parties’ affairs. Civil society including the Church should only give technical support on policy collaboration if called upon to do so by parties and they should not ‘steer’ the process as to take away the ownership of the coalition.

Q: Any last word?

A: The constant fragmentation of political parties is indicative of the fact that there is a need for a formal and systematic approach to coalition formation. This will have a number of significant positive impact on our politics, prime among them, would be restricting the reckless crossing of floor in Parliament. Coalition needs to operate within the confines of certain rules and regulations. There are examples of countries in Africa which have over the years found ways to build vibrant and diverse electoral coalitions. It will be a worthwhile task at this juncture for Malawi to learn a lesson or two from these countries.

There is a dire need for an inclusive dialogue on the process of formalisation of coalitions so that they are meaningful and lasting and become building blocks of our democracy. Let us start the process now.