Independent candidates continue their dominance in national elections with 1 137 out of 3 041 local government elections aspirants going solo in the September 16 General Election, Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) data has shown.
The number represents 37 percent, an increase from 832 independent candidates out of 2 709 aspirants in the 2019 Tripartite Elections.
Out of 24 registered political parties, 22 have placed candidates. Malawi Congress Party (MCP) leads with 479 aspirants followed by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) with 456 aspirants and UTM Party in third with 358.
United Democratic Front (UDF) has fielded 144 candidates, People’s Party has 135, Alliance for Democracy has 85, Odya Zake Alibe Mlandu has 77 while People’s Development Party has 60.
On the other hand, Nzika Coalition, Mafunde and Anyamata Azimai Atsikana parties have one candidate each while Mbakuwaku Movement for Development and Solidarity Alliance Party have not fielded candidates.
The trend of independents outsmarting political party representation comes barely a week after the bloc also dominated the parliamentary race by accounting for 632 of the 1 474 aspirants.
Commenting on the trend, Political Science Association spokesperson Mavuto Bamusi said it was an indication of a breakdown in intra-party democracy and loss of trust in the political party system
“It also reflects the deepening irregularities in the conduct of primary elections where party officials are alleged to impose candidates against the will of the people,” he said.
Bamusi observed that the MCP’s dominance reflected the governing party’s access to resources, a point earlier highlighted by electoral and identity politics expert Ernest Thindwa who said parties in power have incumbency advantage, making them more attractive to aspirants.
Reacting to his party’s performance, Odya Zake Alibe Mlandu secretary general Happy Kondowe said the 77 aspirants show that the party has gained support since its registration in June this year.
In terms of gender, there are 535 women who presented their nominations, representing 17.5 percent of total candidates.
However, the number of women in the local government race has dropped from 645 or 24 percent of total candidates in the 2019 elections while the 2014 elections had 417 female aspirants out of 2 398.
In an earlier interview, Women’s Manifesto Movement coordinator Margaret Kathewera-Banda attributed the drop in female representation to high nomination fees despite that female candidates were paying half the amount.
She said besides nomination fees, women also face challenges of resources for the campaign, leading many to not submit nomination papers for lack of assurance of support.
On her part, political analyst Nandin Patel told The Nation last week that the key to achieving the 50-50 gender representation target is having a law that will promote gender quotas for parliamentary and local government seats.
She said the move needs to be taken soon after a new government is in place to show seriousness in promoting women empowerment, arguing women continue to face financial, cultural, and other barriers in political participation.
“Much as we discuss the problems, we are not taking concrete measures either in terms of considering alternative system like reservation of seats,” said Patel.
The National Strategy on Political Empowerment of Women the government launched last year aims to have at least 35 percent of parliamentary and local government seats in 2025 elections won by women, with the hope of increasing the number to 50 percent of the seats in 2030.
