Cycle of destruction

Twin towers of tragedy have struck Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), like a lightning, in just a week.

On Tuesday last week, they lost two parliamentary seats in Mzimba, which used to be theirs.

Days later, they lost two influential figures: Goodall Gondwe—the party’s vice-president and Wakuda Kamanga—secretary general.

Of course, the loss in Mzimba—judged from how the DPP government fared with the North when they ruled—was expected, hence, can be excused.

The party knew about its waning support there. As such, the loss was not a big deal; it was only a confirmation of expected reality.

But what about the loss of Kamanga and Gondwe, two party stalwarts that, just weeks ago, spoke heavily of the party’s chances to return to power in 2014?

Honestly, the two’s gesture is quite baffling, nothing about it expected.

Both Gondwe and Kamanga were in Mzimba campaigning for their candidates. Not only that.

Additionally, Gondwe tenaciously assured Malawians that DPP will return to power in 2014.

Sweet carrot

Their quitting the party raises tough questions about DPP.

Is there something acidic in the party which has pushed the two out, or there is a sweet carrot outside it, which has pulled them with coercion?

A deeper probe into the country’s political history, however, reveals that this is not just a question for DPP.

The same question continues to be asked about Malawi Congress Party (MCP) since its fall from grace in 1994, and again, about United Democratic Front (UDF) since that crash from power in 2005.

While MCP has failed to get back into government in three successive elections, UDF went into 2009 polls without a candidate. Both of them have seen drastic decline in their parliamentary representation. And both are stuck in dungeons of tenacious leadership wrangles that weaken their parties through incessant breakaways.

What is happening in DPP today, then, is just a fragment of a general, bigger story of what happens to the country’s political parties when they crash from grace.

In other words, political parties in Malawi follow a common pattern—a cycle of destruction, when they fall from power.

The question, then, should be: Why do political parties collapse when they fall from power?

Is the collapse a product of intra-party problems which forces people out? Or external influences—incumbents that dangle carrots which pulls people with coercion?

Succession problems

Michael Jana, a political scientist currently pursuing doctoral studies in South Africa, argues that it will take ages for political parties in the country to remain relevant after office because of succession problems.

“At the heart of chaos in UDF, MCP and recently, DPP, is the problem of succession. These parties—despite having clearly laid out principles to guide succession questions—barely put them into practice.

“What emerges from such a flaw of democracy is a party bulldozed by the wish of a single person—those with access to financing mechanism,” he says.

He is right. MCP is synonymous with the wishes of John Tembo, its president. Despite retiring, UDF continues to conflict over the name of Bakili Muluzi. Before he died, DPP was all a Bingu wa Mutharika’s possession. Meaning political parties in the country are not beyond the founders or their national chairpersons like is the case with African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa.

“In this context, I can confidently say that most party leaders in Malawi have questionable legitimacy,” continues Jana.

Against the background of such a questioned legitimacy, these party founders go ahead to make unilateral decisions that, at best, protect their individual appetites.

When Muluzi handpicked Mutharika, the party lost a number of its stalwarts. The same happened to MCP when Tembo joined forces with Muluzi to impeach Mutharika. MCP lost a number of its members.

The story is the same with Mutharika and DPP. When he pulled his weight on his brother Peter, DPP ended up expelling Joyce Banda and Khumbo Kachali for antagonising.

“Party conventions are not destinies of perfection,” says Michael Chasukwa, political science lecturer at Chancellor College.

However, he adds, Malawi’s political parties need them now, and over and over again, to combat the break aways and defections which are effects of parties failure to manage successions.

Defections

If internal succession failures are a cause pushing members out of their parties, and these failures are even there when their parties are in power, how come they don’t defect to other parties?

The reason Wakuda Kamanga gave in defence of his defection to PP gives a good reason for analysis.

“I love democracy, but democracy without food is not good democracy; democracy without good roads is not good democracy.

“I am joining PP not to kill democracy but because I am aware of the African philosophy where when you are in opposition you just oppose everything government does,” he told Sunday Times.

His wisdom here blunts that his defection has nothing to do with internal DPP’s politics, rather, the philosophy of the opposition.

But Joseph Chunga, president of Political Science Association in Malawi (Psam) is quite perplexed with Kamanga’s argument.

“Which opposition to PP is he talking about? Is MCP and UDF opposing in Parliament? It’s only DPP, which he was its secretary general, which comes out robust as an opposing force in Parliament. Does this tell us that the DPP has agreed to oppose everything as Kamanga argues?” says Chunga.

And he does not stop there.

“I should be honest with you, what Kamanga is saying is quite a dangerous argument in democracy. A very dangerous argument! Is he trying to assume that we do not need the opposition?” he queries.

Chunga adds that every politician that defects to a ruling party on the basis of Kamanga’s thinking just doesn’t have an argument at all.

“They need to be honest here. My take is that Kamanga has made an assessment that his party can’t win in 2014. The defection, which I know won’t add anything to PP, is purely a personal search for fortune and security. It has nothing to do with development of the country as he alleges,” he says.

Interestingly, Kamanga is not the first politician to defend his defection using such an argument. Such arguments were almost an anthem between 2005 and 2008 after Mutharika formed his political party.

“When they know that their personal search for fortune and security is in compatible with the situation in their opposition parties, the ruling party is the only option.

“Until these parties embrace deeper intra-party democracy, the woes won’t stop,” says Chunga.

Surely, caught in the destructive cycle that finished off UDF and MCP, DPP—if it fails to manage its succession carefully— it will end like its predecessors. The ruling PP, through provision of brief security—by dangling carrots and sometimes sticks—will rob more of its people, and threaten democracy.