DPP banks on makeup

After nearly three years of bitter in-fighting, main opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) holds its elective convention tomorrow at Comesa Hall in Blantyre amid the question of whether the party that Malawians rejected in 2020 has anything new to offer.

Political and governance commentators Weekend Nation talked to during this week say DPP has to do more instead of just portraying itself as an alternative to what remains of the Tonse Alliance and banking on any protest vote, but demonstrate if it is a different party in terms of policy approaches.

The DPP, whose leader Peter Mutharika will go unopposed at the convention, has since its loss to Tonse Alliance in the June 23 2020 court-sanctioned fresh presidential election been entangled in internal bickering that resulted in some senior members being expelled and has done little to show remorse for its past mistakes and how it plans to correct them should it return to power.

The in-fighting destabilised the erstwhile governing party in the midst of parallel structures that were formed with one pledging allegiance to Mutharika while another aligned itself to its former vice-president for the South Kondwani Nankhumwa, who was later fired from the party and went on to form his People’s Development Party (PDP).

Mutharika took over DPP’s leadership following the death of his brother Bingu wa Mutharika in April 2012, propelling it to victory in the 2014 Tripartite Elections after defeating then president Joyce Banda of People’s Party (PP).

As the party elects its new national executive committee (NEC) this weekend, hoping to build momentum ahead of the September 16 2025 General Election, political and governance commentators have expressed different opinions on the party’s ability to bounce back to power.

In an interview on Tuesday, political analyst Ernest Thindwa said the fact that DPP was voted out of office does not, and should not, suggest that it is not an electoral alternative.

He said it will serve the DPP and Mutharika, in particular, better to present to Malawians a clear and compelling economic, social and political programme and plan of action if they are to reinforce the claim of being an alternative government.

Said Thindwa: “It has to have a plan of action, not for mere slogans, stressing desirable developmental outcomes as it is often the case for our parties, rather focusing on feasible strategies to achieve measurable milestones to deliver those outcomes.”

Two years after it lost power, an Afrobarometer survey showed that the party remained strong and could potentially win the next election.

The survey, which was conducted between February 14 and 24 2022, found that 41.2 percent of respondents preferred to vote for DPP while the remaining percentages were split among other parties.

But, in a separate interview, another political analyst Wonderful Mkhutche argued that it is hard to expect anything new from the DPP, considering that the leadership and people remain the same.

He argued that when the party had its functional review, there were no major changes that held repositioned DPP from the party that people voted out of power.

Among others, the DPP functional review committee, which was headed by its vice-president (Eastern Region) Bright Msaka, established that the party’s supporters had lost trust and confidence in its leadership, and warned that it could lead to its downfall if not well-managed.

The review committee also cast its doubt on whether the central committee chaired by Mutharika was working in the interest of the party.

Backing the functional review’s findings, Mkhutche argued that the DPP simply wants to be in power, but does not have capacity to change the country.

“The dominance of Mutharika as the party’s leader has derailed the DPP. Mutharika is very old and has a trail of failures that can make it hard to inspire the nation behind him,” he argued.

On his part, Human Rights Defenders Coalition chairperson Gift Trapence said Malawians would want to know from Mutharika how different the party is and how reformed it is from different ills that led Malawians to boot it out of power.

“Malawians want to be convinced in terms of what new agenda, if any, they will bring. Have they departed from the issues of nepotism, corruption, arrogance etc, which were part of their DNA?

“These are the hard-hitting questions they need to respond to Malawians,” said Trapence.

Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace national coordinator Boniface Chibwana argued that the success of the DPP in the forthcoming polls will, to a large extent, depend on the people that will be ushered in office at the convention.

“More importantly, it will depend on the message the party will take to Malawians in its bid to providing an alternative political leadership amid the current socio-economic situation in the country.

“[However] it will not be easy for DPP to convince the majority of the voters to rally behind it considering that the present challenges rocking the country, have the genesis in the party’s poor rule and that the Tonse Alliance only inherited the governance mess the country is in,” said Chibwana.

He further argued that for the DPP to have a semblance of political rebranding, reform and change, the party needs to use the convention as an avenue of re-facing with progressive and inclusive leadership that resonates well with the majority of the people.

Similarly, governance commentator Undule Mwakasungula said the convention is an important moment for the DPP to demonstrate that it is still relevant to Malawi politics.

He said: “For a party that has been in opposition since 2020, the convention is a chance to reassess its strategies. It needs to convince Malawians that it still has something to offer despite being voted out due to Malawians’ dissatisfaction with them.”

Meanwhile, the party held a press briefing at its headquarters in Sunnyside yesterday, indicating its readiness for the convention, where delegates start arriving today.

Briefing the media, the convention’s steering committee chairperson George Chaponda, who is Leader of Opposition in Parliament, and is contesting on the position of vice-president for (South), said the party is still mobilising funds to meet the budget for the convention, pegged at K500 million.

But he did not reveal how much they have raised so far for the convention which is expected to be attended by about 2 650 delegates

According to Chaponda, apart from Mutharika and vice-president (North) Jappie Mhango, others that will go unopposed at the convention include Edgar Tembo (treasurer general), Chifundo Makande (campaign director), Apostle Timothy Khoviwa (director of religious affairs), Symon Vuwa Kaunda (director of logistics) and William Susuwele Banda (director of research).

Among others, the battle for the position of secretary general is between incumbent Clement Mwale and former police inspector general Peter Mukhito, who was later Mutharika’s chief-of-staff. n

See full list of contestants for all other key positions in Nation on Sunday tomorrow