On DPP, MCP conventions

The first day of any month on calendar is a door. But what if a door of a particular month is a Fool’s Day? Can it lead you into something big?

It is possible that such a door can lead you into 30 or 31 days of foolery—a fool’s paradise.

That, arguably, appears to be the story of April, a month that begins with a Fool’s Day.

It is a superstitious story, of course. But not everything superstitious is irrational. Sometimes, there is rationality in it—pointers of deeper truths well hidden to the ordinary eye.

Let us pray that the first day of April this year, the Fool’s Day, does not lead the nation into 30 days of foolery. There is a big reason for this.

Sometime in this month of foolery, if you believe in superstitions, two conventions involving two of the country’s biggest parties have been slated with the same days.

And this is true.

Malawi Congress Party (MCP) leader John Tembo announced to a gathering in Lilongwe last week that the convention will run from April 27 to 29.

In Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), however, it was not the interim leader Peter Mutharika who announced the days of the convention. It was Nicholas Dausi, the party’s spokesperson, who confirmed to the media of the party’s conventions running from April 27.

“The coincidence doesn’t matter. What is important is how the two parties will manage to eliminate speculations and predictions as facts will just avail themselves,” says Dr Henry Chingaipe, director for Institute of Governance and Social Empowerment.

He is right.

DPP and MCP share a common history of intra-party struggle that has shaped their present leadership debates.

For instance, according to Rafiq Hajat, a renowned political commentator, MCP is still struggling from the Dr Kamuzu Banda dictatorial shadow—a legacy which is symbolised by continued presence of John Tembo in the party’s leadership mantle.

This, arguably, is not so different from the struggle in DPP. In fact, Joseph Chunga, president of Political Science Association of Malawi (PSAM), agrees that DPP’s innermost need is to rebrand itself.

“The DPP of Bingu wa Mutharika days left scars on the people that need to be healed for the party to refresh itself. This calls for rebranding—a quest for the new,” he says.

What Chunga argues of DPP concurs with insights Henry Chimunthu Banda, one of the party’s senior members, raised in last week’s exclusive interview with The Daily Times.

“…there are people who believe that with the turn of things after the death of Professor Bingu wa Mutharika, the party has to rebrand,” he said.

Arguably, then, both DPP and MCP have a shadow of the past they need to get over before they proceed into the next chapter. And that is not easy.

Chimunthu Banda, in the same interview, argued that DPP needs to open up competition on the position of the presidential candidate.

“I am saying so because the information in the public domain is that the only name at the moment is that of our acting president, Hon Prof. Peter Mutharika.

Therefore, the party holds key to the participation of other competitors in the race,” he said.

Yet, the politicking of strategic closing up to other potential candidates is not just a problem in DPP. It is happening in MCP as well.

Of course, MCP secretary general Chris Daza and legislator Edwin Banda have expressed their desire to contest for the presidency.

But the party’s obsession with Tembo—a man whom the party’s constitution bars to contest for the third time—is not helping to ‘open up competition on the position of the presidential candidate’.

Not only has Daza been fired from the party for expressing interest to contest, one MCP legislator Vitus Mwale was quoted in the media, saying the party is ready to change the constitution to allow Tembo to stand.

“Representatives from the North and the South are saying they will vote for you (Tembo) at the convention. Don’t worry about the constitution. It is people who made it. We will rally behind you,” he said.

Chunga, however, argues that despite intra-party machinations aimed at protecting Mutharika in DPP and Tembo in MCP, these two parties must hold their conventions.

“Conventions give positive image to a party. They give legitimacy to leaders. Of course, it is not easy to expect surprises. But there is always change, or a beginning of it, at the end of the tunnel.

“For instance, we know how flawed the UDF convention was. But who, today, is questioning that? It’s the same with PP. We have now moved ahead with memories that UDF and PP held their convention,” he said.

So, is a bad convention better than no convention at all?

Chunga argues that for DPP and MCP, the convention is quite pivotal in shaping their future.

“If MCP maintains Tembo, well, I believe it will be a lost opportunity. It means militating against every process of change the party needs to begin afresh. Unarguably, it will be a minus to the party,” he said.

Chunga added that DPP needs to make sure that it rebrands.

“Rebranding in DPP calls for healthy competition at the top to rid the party from the shadow of Bingu wa Mutharika. There is need for the party to create a conducive environment for people to contest,” he says.

Beyond that, Chunga adds that the results of the two conventions in April are quite pivotal as the country slides to 2014.

“Of course, the stage is not yet set for 2014 elections. There is hardly enough alternatives to the incumbency on the ground. But the results of these two conventions will set the stage for 2014,” he says.

He added that the post-2014 Malawi really depends on the leaders that these two conventions produce.

“They are both large parties with a great following. They really provide an interesting alternative to the incumbent. However, if the two parties fail to produce good leaders during their conventions, they will have themselves to blame,” he argued.

Surely, it is hopeful that the two convention slated sometime in April will not be another April Fools prank. Otherwise, superstitions weigh 2014.

“Of course, the stage is not yet set for 2014 elections. There is hardly enough alternatives to the incumbency on the ground. But the results of these two conventions will set the stage for 2014,” he says.

He added that the post-2014 Malawi really depends on the leaders that these two conventions produce.

“They are both large parties with a great following. They really provide an interesting alternative to the incumbent. However, if the two parties fail to produce good leaders during their conventions, they will have themselves to blame,” he argued.

Surely, it is hopeful that the two convention slated sometime in April will not be another April Fools prank. Otherwise, superstitions weigh heavily in Malawi—more so in politics.