Political party primaries have turned ugly in the governing Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), leading to cancellation or withholding of results in some areas.
In the face of the growing wrangles, MCP was yesterday forced to call a meeting headed by the party’s Directorate of Elections to assess the disputes over the election results and how to move forward.
MCP has recorded primary election disputes in Lilongwe Central, Dowa Ngala and Ntchisi South constituencies, among other areas where the elections, mostly to identify aspirants for member of Parliament (MPs), were marred by chaotic and violent scenes.
In Lilongwe Cent ral Constituency, Herbert Mtoso, who is challenging former minister of Agriculture and incumbent MP Lobin Lowe, and four others alleged that there was electioneering in the polls; hence, the chaos.
He said in an interview yesterday: “When it came to sorting out votes for aspiring MPs, things turned ugly. My monitor was receiving a lot of votes and when these people realised, he was manhandled, the ballot papers were snatched from him and the whole process was disturbed. “Members of my team didn’t sleep in their houses because they were being followed and have reported the matter to Area 3 Police in Lilongwe. I don’t know what the party will say, but my team cannot go down on the ground because they are afraid. It’s nasty.”
MCP spokesperson Jessie Kabwila, speaking in an interview after an emergency management meeting yesterday, said the party was also concerned with similar primary election disputes in some constituencies in Kasungu, Lilongwe and Ntchisi.
She said: “Just like any other party, primary elections are very contentious issues, but MCP is a mature party and we have built mechanisms to handle these issues; hence, the meeting today.
“Let me assure the nation that we are managing the situation, we have had a high level stakeholders meeting to make sure that the primaries are run in a professional manner where people are allowed to choose the people they want.”
Kabwila acknowledged perceptions that some candidates have been endorsed by senior party officials, but argued that the party wants fair play.
She said: “We know there are images of people thinking of endorsed people, we have looked at what are our challenges and how we correct this and corrective measures have been put in place.
“Very soon, the secretary-general will be making a statement. We have an introspective look on where we have gone wrong in terms of systems and we have put measures in place.”
In DPP, disagreements have emerged in Chikwawa North Constituency where primary elections ended in bloodshed. There was also a dispute over results in Mulanje Central Constituency.
DPP spokesperson Shadric Namalomba described the squabbles as unfortunate, but said director of election Jean Mathanga was better-placed to speak on the matter.
However, Mathanga did not pick up her phone after calling her several times.
Reacting to the development, Human Rights Defenders Coalition chairperson Gift Trapence said political parties should promote democracy at political party level as well.
He said: “Not giving equal leveling ground and allowing violence during these primaries only shows the characteristics of these parties that they have not internalised democratic principles in their structures.
“We can’t expect them to embrace the principles of democracy when ushered into
government,” he fumed.
On his part, Political Science Association of Malawi spokesperson Mavuto Bamusi said the squabbles are a sign of the deepening of political corruption where power is abused for narrow and personal interests.
He said: “The effect is that elections will produce MPs that have no interest in promoting people-centred development. Parliament will be characterised with politics of patronage where interests of citizens will be sidelined.
“The chaos will likely be transmitted to the general election. We could expect to witness violence, attempts to rig votes, and voter apathy in other areas may be witnessed. The quality and calibre of MPs and councillors will also be unsatisfactory in some cases.”
University of Malawi-based expert in legislative and electoral politics Gift Sambo said the culture of candidate ‘parachuting’ has the potential to ruin the popularity of party backed contestants.
“This explains why we are witnessing the proliferation of independent candidates and MPs in the country. This may eventually lead to the emergence of a fragmented party system,” he said.
During past elections, unresolved disputes, especially during primaries for parliamentary candidates have seen some disgruntled candidates contesting as independents on polling day.
The trend has resulted in the growth of independent legislators from 33 in 2009 to 52 in 2014 and 55 in 2019
