DPP mess a national tragedy
So, the confusion which continues to reign supreme within the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), reached a head this week when one faction loyal to the party’s vice-president Kondwani Nankhumwa held its National Governing Council (NGC) meeting in Lilongwe on Wednesday. But the other faction of former president Peter Mutharika trashed it as illegal and its resolutions invalid. According to this faction, this is because the party’s secretary general Grezelder Jeffrey did not follow the right procedure when calling for the meeting.
I want Malawians to see the enormity of the tragedy we are all in when we have an opposition party that is fighting itself. This is because DPP is the entity that is supposed to lead the opposition in Parliament in checking the excesses of the government.
Truth be told, when you have the main opposition party that is ripped with internal squabbles and its members are pulling what remains of it in different directions, you have a serious problem before you. This is the situation that obtains in DPP now. And I want Malawians to see this as a national tragedy and not just an internal DPP problem or cleansing process as some would argue.
It is a national problem because in essence the infighting among DPP members means there is no opposition party to play the role of a safeguard and gatekeeper to the excesses of the Executive. And we have seen during the three years under the Tonse Alliance administration that these excesses are exceedingly on the gargantuan side.
A highly divided opposition means that the Executive which is the custodian of the national purse can go to any length in its unfettered appetite to abuse taxpayers’ money. Yes, knowing fully well, there is no united stand to make it account for the malfeasance.
We are in a serious national crisis where on a daily basis the governing party is getting away with blue murder because institutions which ought to sound the alarm are either compromised or too weak because they are fighting each other.
Some of such entities include the civil society organisations (CSOs). They receive funding on trust that they will fight for good governance. The other entities are opposition parties that are in Parliament. Some of them such as the DPP and Malawi Congress Party receive party funding from Account Number One with the sole purpose of sustaining democracy.
Unfortunately for the CSOs, they are all long dead and buried befitting epitaphs on the once vibrant groups. Here lies the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) which once held the soul of the nation. Sadly, it was recalled on the altar of politics of patronage.
Whence the once fiery HRDC that once rallied the whole nation behind it against the stolen 2019 presidential elections results?
In the case of the DPP, three years is a long time it should by now have sorted out its internal issues. I always get the feeling that APM has done his part for the country and DPP leaders who are forcing him to be the party’s torch bearer in 2025 are only doing so for their own benefit which is a great injustice and disservice to both the man and the party.
Look at his age. He is 83 years. What he needs most now is rest. He will be 85 in September 2025. This will be long past the age someone can optimally offer their best to the party and the nation.
DPP has some of the most intelligent brains and erudite minds in the country. Let them compete on a level-playing field at a democratically organised elective conference. But since only one person can be elected party president and presidential candidate, let all other contestants support the winner. That way, DPP can become strong again and could bounce back to power. Not the nonsense we are seeing now.
As for APM, if some party cadres still think he can be of value to the party, give him an advisory role.
