Thumbs up Pac, but people want results

Public Affairs Committee (PAC) has been on its toes on several national issues since the dawn of Multiparty democracy in the early 1090’s. Its hand to help solve some of the serious national issues has made it one of the most successful watchdogs for government.

There are many issues the committee has advocated worth profiling. These are federalism, steps to influence the trimming of presidential powers, calls for electoral reforms, section 65, section 64, recall provision and Cashgate, among others.

Nonetheless, it is a success not worth a big hand clap now. Almost all the issues above have not been concluded and there is little to show as fruits of the steps. Most of the matters take long to be concluded and recommendations made at the consultative forums are barely implemented. This has left proponents of some concerns wondering whether PAC adopts contentious matters for a favourable consensus or just sink their wishes and momentum.

As PAC holds another two-day stakeholder forum this week on the required reforms in the local government, one wonders why the committee continues to advance several issues when many are yet to be concluded.

Robert Phiri, executive director for PAC, appreciates the situation and says there is a valid reason to question their success.

“It is true that there is an impression that most issues have not been concluded in a manner the public expects,” he says.

He, however, defends the office, saying they deal with serious concerns which require “a process approach”.

But Chancellor College political analyst Dr Blessings Chinsinga says if the country is to move forward, watchdogs such as PAC need to drag every topic under discussion to a conclusion and not just start an and then pile.

“PAC’s role is to help find consensus solutions to contentious issues and if it leaves the issues not concluded, people will start to doubt its relevance and credibility,” says Chinsinga.

He advises PAC to come up with a strategy that helps to influence government to adopt its propositions.

“What I would advise PAC is to rethink its instrumental set-up so that what it discusses finds its way into the government. If they achieve this, they will gain more trust from the public than it is now,” he says

However, Chinsinga says it is too early for the public to lose trust in PAC. He says even with the dragging on each topic it handles, its intervention on serious matters has been vital in the quest for national peace. He says PAC acts as a safety valve that neutralises national anger on specific matters.

He says PAC provides a platform to discuss issues in a holistic approach that allows proponents and opponents to share views and arrive to a holistic conclusion.

“Malawi needs PAC in all means and their intervention has been so influential and relevant. However, its main challenge is that it has no political binding to the government of the day and so some of its efforts can reach to nowhere,” says Chinsinga.

An inside source at PAC reveals that there have been discussions during internal meetings on not producing results. The source says this has been raised several times, but the body is challenged.

“There are many issues which PAC knows could have been finished by now, but are dragging. The problem is that they are being influenced by views from outside.

“If the issue loses the public concentration, PAC relaxes and leaves it. They are also struggling to negotiate on some issues and when this hit a snag, the future is blunt. PAC is also struggling financially and therefore fails to move on with specific issues to the end. Finally, there is political influence. For instance, government does not want federalism, but there are opposition parties pushing them. In the end, they are left hanging,” reveals the source, while advising PAC to use its full potential before it completely loses its relevance.

Phiri insists they have done better so far. He says he is happy with the effort PAC has made over the years, but admits they are struggling more especially because their efforts depend on political will.

“As PAC, we have never deemed ourselves that we have all the tools to deal with contentious matters because they also depend on State’s political will. However, there have been positive strides in many issues. For instance, on Cashgate, you will recall that PAC’s third All-Inclusive Conference in February, 2014 demanded publication of names involved in Cashgate issue. We have seen some movement in this area.

“As regards to Section 65, and Section 64 we engaged the Parliament and the Judiciary and we plan to hold a Joint meeting between the Judiciary and Parliament. It was supposed to take place end of last year, but was postponed because the Judiciary needed more time,” he says .

Phiri adds that in terms of the electoral reforms, they have other players such as Malwi Electoral Support Network (Mesn) and Malawi Electoral Commision (Mec) and these have taken up some of the issues they are advocating.

He says most issues they have raised have been appreciated and accommodated by government, but their finalisation will depend on Parliament making new laws or amending the legal framework . The executive director says this is why they have been constantly pushing for a constitutional review because all reforms cannot operate in isolation and ought to be linked because they impact on constitutional aspects, electoral process and local governance.

Phiri notes that federalism is one of the topics that have left the tongues wagging, but he assures Malawians that PAC stands firm on its promises and commitments on the topic and discussions will resume next month.

“Our challenge is that Parliament has authority to change or amend laws and all we can do is to advocate these changes. I can assure Malawians that most of these topical issues will be dealt with within reasonable time, but it should be noted that the pace of the activities implementation also depend on availability of funds,” concludes Phiri.