Govt must seek fresh mandate

Aford says it is high time Malawians invoked the Constitution to demand a referendum onwhether President Bingu wa Mutharika’s government mandate should go beyond 2012 or not.

But Minister of Information and Civic Education Patricia Kaliati has trashed the suggestion, arguing the DPP-led government has no time for a party she described as a “mere club.”

The call by the Alliance for Democracy (Aford) echoes sentiments from Institute for Policy Interaction (IPI) executive director Rafiq Hajat, who recently told the Weekend Nation that people have a constitutional mandate to call for a referendum to decide whether they still have trust in the DPP-government.

A statement issued by chairperson of Aford’s Elections and Campaign Committee, Dan Msowoya, last week claims “the DPP-led government has failed in many aspects.”

Aford says the economic, social and political hardships and uncertainty facing the country are the direct consequence of poor governance.

Therefore, the party argues Malawians have every reason to call for a referendum as backed by the Constitution following loss of trust in government.

Reads the statement: “We thus call upon all our beloved fellow citizens, who so gallantly fought along with us in the 1990s for democracy, freedom and respect for human rights in this country to conscientiously engage the DPP governing elite despite their being unaccustomed to the principles of contact and dialogue; to let them know that they are most unsuitable to continue governing.

“Malawians have lost trust in them and as the Constitution declares, their ‘authority to govern is conditional on the sustained trust of Malawians’. The entire Section 12 of our Constitution accentuates this sovereign authority of the electorate. In other words, facts of law and logic are both on our side and we cannot be faulted.”

But Kaliati, slightly off the conciliatory position that the President took on Christmas Day, on Thursday said Aford should first of all work hard to have structures nationwide before it starts exchanging words with government.

Said the minister: “We are too smart to exchange words with Aford. We cannot be wasting our time listening to issues from Aford. In fact, they are just pointing fingers at themselves that they are a failure. Do you call that a party? Is that a party with only two MPs?”

In his special Christmas address, Mutharika called for forgiveness, reconciliation and unity among Malawians.

He also called for partnership to bring lasting solutions to the forex and fuel shortages that have rocked the country’s economy for two years.

Said Mutharika: “Let us all work together in finding solutions regardless of our political, religious and tribal affiliations.”