Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD) says intraparty fights in some political parties will help to identify weaknesses to rebuild the parties.
CMD executive director Kizito Tenthani said this on Monday in an interview on the sidelines of a post-election healing session at Sunbird Mount Soche in Blantyre.
He observed that post-election conflicts within political parties are necessary because they are the only way parties can emerge stronger.
Said Tenthani: “Let us give them a chance to quarrel, let us give them a chance to fight and they should fight hard so that they should really define their next course of action.
“If you look at the fight, it is a symbol that something is not right within their democratic structures and that will be a way of trying to redefine for them to move on. It means that some of its structures are not resilient enough to ensure that the party can move itself further.”
Although Tenthani did not mention the party, some quarters have related his sentiments to what is happening in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
On his part, CMD chairperson Joseph Chidanti-Malunga said the meeting, which involved all party representatives with representation in Parliament, sought to remind different party members that as the country is maturing democratically, they need to learn to co-exist.
He said: “There are different political parties in the country.
“So, as citizens, it doesn’t matter your neighbour belongs to a different political party, the bottom line is we are one people.”
During the session, DPP vice-president (Centre) Uladi Mussa publicly declared that he will contest for party’s presidency at the party’s convention which is yet to be announced.
Recently, squabbles have rocked the former governing
supporting the party’s vice-president (South) Kondwani Nankhumwa while another is supporting the party’s president Peter Mutharika.party with one faction
The fight reached its peak on Friday when the party’s central committee fired Nankhumwa, secretary general Grezelder Jeffrey, Mulanje West legislator Yusuf Nthenda and its treasurer general Jappie Mhango for what the party termed as indiscipline.
On Saturday, however, Nankhumwa’s faction obtained an injunction in Lilongwe, restraining the party from expelling him and his colleagues.
The division became more pronounced on Sunday when Nankhumwa, together with Jeffrey, conducted a political rally in Bangwe while Mutharika invited some DPP members of Parliament to his retirement home in Mangochi.
The Mutharika faction reaffirmed its position that the Leader of Opposition in Parliament is Francis Kasaila and not Nankhumwa.
Last month, Jeffrey called for Mutharika’s retirement from and an early convention which did not please the former president.
However, in a twist of events, Mutharika and Jeffrey reportedly met at the former’s residence in Mangochi where they reconciled.
But the drama was far from over as Jeffrey led-DPP lawmakers in Parliament last Thursday to elect Nankhumwa as Leader of Opposition.
Mutharika took over the leadership of DPP after the death of his brother in 2012, propelling the party to victory in the 2014 Tripartite Elections.
