Vote for the best

In the year 2009 when the outcomes of the elections were announced, most people perceived the next one in the 2014 as too far. But that is now around the corner. On the threshold is the next one of the 2019 which once more looks rather remote in time.

How should people vote? When Alexander the Great was lying on his sickbed in Mesopotamia enroute from his Victoria in India, those waiting upon him asked. “In case you die, whom should we choose as your successor?” He replied, “Choose the best man,”

Whoever they chose was no substitute for Alexander because the Greek Empire now split into three parts each with its own emperor. In the impending election, choosing the best candidate should be the primary consideration whether as a president, member of parliament (MP) or councillor. Malawi as a country will not realise its full potential unless the best people occupy the key institutions of the nation.

Parliament is a key institution, although of the three branches of the government, the other being the Executive and the Judiciary, it is often occupied by people who have undergone no preparatory course. You cannot be given a driving licence unless you have taken a course in driving and passed the examiner’s test. You cannot practise engineering, medicine or law unless you have spent years in an institution of higher learning to acquire the necessary skills.

To become an MP, the minimum expected of you is an academic qualification equivalent to the Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) or proficiency in English. With these, you may contest for membership of the august House and get elected.

This does not mean voters should be casual in casting their votes; they must vote for someone who is likely to take part in the deliberations of the House not one who acts as a more constituency errand boy or girl.

We may not agree on who is the best candidate, but it is true that male and female candidates have among them those with startling qualities. It is wrong to vote for a candidate just because of their gender. Merit should be the first consideration.

The obsession with 50 percent women serves little purpose if it ignores the question of merit. People we send to Parliament must be fully committed and should have an ambition, the energy, the confidence and the knowledge to take part in most programmes that are tabled.

If numbers are all that matter, attaining parity representation would be unfair to women. According to the census, females constitute 48.The targets can easily be attained during the 2019 election by reserving 52 percent of constituencies for female candidates and 48 for male candidates. In female constituencies, women will compete with women and men in male constituencies, men will contest against men.

I personally will not lose sleep if in the elections to take place on May 20, 2014 more than 50 percent of those elected are women so long as they are better in every respect than the men they will defeat. In Rwanda, I understand the parliament has more females than males. Parliamentary democracy is an imported mode of making or repealing laws. Some of the oldest democracies are found in the Anglo Saxon part of the world while others are in the Scandinavian, the largest democracy in the world is reputed to be India. It would be interesting to find out the ratio of female legislators to male legislators in these countries. Has the Sadc region goal been attained or is it as a hot issue there as it is in the Sadc region.

There are more pressing problems in Malawi than 50 percent issue. The interests of men and women are not poles apart, to borrow a phrase the Nyasaland African Congress used often in its memorandum to colonial office.

The female MP may have a husband, a son and a father. In what sense are her interests contrary in the interests of these? Safe motherhood? Who would not mind if his wife died while delivering a baby?

Equality of opportunities from all walks of life is worthy goal and must be pursued. However, all people male and female alike should occupy positions in which they will be most useful to the nation.