Let sleeping dogs lie
The country’s problems are too numerous to mention and depending on which side of the fence you are on, they range from having no food on the table to negotiating the thorny terrain of the race for the position of running mate in the coming elections.
But one thing that most Malawians will agree on is that this country has problems, what differs is the magnitude and extensity of them.
Certainly, Malawians will agree that among the numerous challenges that they are facing, an electoral reform bill is not one of them. Being November, hunger is biting millions of them hard; the fertiliser subsidy that would help them avoid a similar occurrence next year has become a political tool.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration has no intention of ever bringing the electoral reform bill that seeks to change the voting system, for the simple reason that it would work to their disadvantage.
DPP is a party that in any other electoral system should not be in power. The smart ones in the party know there is zero chance the party would match the feat that the late Bingu wa Mutharika achieved in 2009, a 63 percent resounding endorsement that he was the leader they wanted at the time.
Lessons learnt post 2009 are enough to strike fear in the hearts of Malawians, those who suffered at the hands of oppressive laws and the surviving families of 20 people who died on July 20 in 2011. Too much power in the hands of the arrogant and selfish individuals has not been good for this country.
However, the legitimacy that comes with a majority vote cannot be ignored. It is true what PP vice-president (North) Kamlepo Kalua said this week that a government elected by over 50 percent of the registered voters brings trust in elected leaders.
But this government doesn’t care about being trusted by Malawians. The DPP is not ruffled that people’s perceptions of them is that of a corrupt party that has no clue about how to solve the country’s national problems.
Expecting such an administration to bring back the electoral reform bills that they themselves shot down is expecting too much, even of such a clueless government.
It boggles the mind why PP would prioritise the failed electoral reform bills in this meeting of Parliament. Could it be that the party is going towards its demise, that it cares less for what people think matters when it comes to law making and providing oversight?
But PP should just give up the idea because there is no chance anyway that PP would even be in the running for a rerun if another party were to fail to obtain 50+1 votes in the coming elections.
It is not in their interest and certainly not in the interest of Malawians right now. PP should just let sleeping dogs lie, everyone has moved on.
PP would do well to focus on things that matter, top of the list being staying in Parliament and not becoming another Alliance for Democracy.
In this ongoing Parliament meeting, PP should instead use its dwindling numbers for good. There are several private members motions that need all the support that the opposition can give them. History would remember PP kindly if they were to support worthy causes in Parliament than the pipedream that is 50+1.
