Opposition politics in Malawi: hopeful signs amid the warnings

Abstract

Across Africa, governments are either peacefully and legitimately ousted, or forced to share power, through the ballot box. In Malawi, the emergence of many political parties since the advent of a multiparty dispensation in 1993 signalled the flourishing of pluralism and opposition politics. However, in the May 2009 elections, the Malawi Congress Party and the United Democratic Front, which constituted the opposition, were largely rejected by the electorate in favour of President Bingu Mutharika's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), credited for his sound economic policies emulated internationally. The reduced presence in parliament of parties outside of the Democratic Progressive Party coalition is troubling. This development has stimulated debate on the opposition's role and ability to defend democratic governance, and the challenges facing it. On the other hand, the DPP's landslide victory has to some degree demonstrated that it is possible to ‘de-regionalise’ and ‘de-ethinicise’ the configuration and alignment of political interests and forces, confirming for other African countries that the analysis of African politics need not be oversimplified into ethnic and cultural terms as is often the case. This paper contends that democratic governance is promoted by a credible opposition that effectively acts as an alternative government. Therefore, there is need for addressing the major factors that militate against its operations to enable it play its rightful role in Malawi's emerging democracy.

Keywords:

• opposition politics
• multiparty
• democratic governance
• Malawi

Notes

1. Malawi 2003, p. 17.

2. ‘Are small political parties necessary?’, 2009.

3. The first multiparty election was conducted in 1961 — the three political parties that contested were the Christian Democratic Party, United Party and the winning Malawi Congress Party.

4. The AFORD party broke away from the alliance on allegations that the UDF government was corrupt.

5. ‘UDF buying opposition members’, 1 July 2000.

6. Maroleng, 2004, p. 79.

7. Khembo, 2004, p. 93.

8. ‘Assessment of Parliament's Performance 2004–2009’, 2009.

9. ‘DPP nets 143 parliamentarians’, 3 June 2009.

10. ‘Beyond Malawi's economic growth’, 11 June 2009

11. ‘Malawi economy: where did we go wrong?’ 29 August 2009.

12. ‘Parliamentary Committees Performance — Matola’, 14 October 2009.

13. Khembo, 2004, p. 93.

14. ‘Malawi Economy: where did we go wrong?’, 29 August 2009.

15. ‘Are small political parties necessary?’, 14 October 2009.

16. Meinhardt & Patel, 2003, pp. 29–33.

17. ‘Political index: If I were Gwanda Chakuwamba’, 8 March 2005.

18. ‘UDF NEC plan to hold indaba’, 2005.

19. Khembo, 2004, p. 93.

20. ‘UDF has lost direction — Dzowela, Masangwi quit UDF’, 2 February 2005.

21. Maliyankono & Kanyongolo, 2003, p. 235.

22. Meinhardt & Patel, 2003, p. 30.

23. ‘It's Mutharika — MCP rejects results’, 20 May 2004.

24. ‘DPP registration next week’, 24 February 2005.

25. ‘Chilumpha faction wary of ex-NDA bloc’, 6 April 2008.

26. Mulinge, 2002, p. 51.

27. Mulinge, 2002, p. 54.

28. Kamwendo, 2002, p. 97.

29. ‘Recently no-go areas have even been marked by placards erected on roadsides. For example, one in the north reads: ‘Welcome to the north the home of DPP’; while in the south (Machinga) a placard reads: ‘Machinga the home of the UDF and no other party’ (quoted in ‘No go areas for political parties’, 2005).

30. Malawi Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, 2002, p. 84.

31. Clientelism refers to a reciprocal exchange of goods and/or services on a personal level between two unequal parties. A clientelistic political system is based on exchange of material rewards for political support or formation of voting blocs to support the patron in elections. See also Edie, 2003, pp. 66–68.

32. ‘DPP breaks regional barriers’, 23–29 May 2009.

33. The quota system for selecting students to university is a deliberate policy which seeks to promote equitable access to tertiary institutions by allocating a quota for each district; the government statistics reveal that students from the northern region dominate in these institutions.

34. ‘Quit DPP, MPs asked’, 21 October 2009.

35. Political culture refers to norms, values, beliefs, attitudes and traditions that shape systems, institutions and processes of governance. Therefore, democratic political culture consists of values such as constitutional government based on the rule of law, guarantee of civil liberties and rights, a system of checks and balances, regular elections, party competition, political pluralism, independence of organised groups and a private enterprise economy. These values are embraced and internalised by the population and manifested by their behaviour. See also Heywood, 2002, p. 30.

36. Kayambazinthu & Moyo, 2002, pp. 87–102.

37. ‘UDF cadres demand pay for poll violence,’ 10 November 2004

38. Kamwendo, 2002, p. 94.

39. ‘EU spells out May 19 poll irregularities, The Nation, 5 August 2009.

40. Mulinge, 2002, p. 47.

41. ‘UDF elects leaders in the House — encourages MPs to support government’, 29 May 2009.

42. Patrimonialism refers to political authority characterised by patronage and clientelist practices and rules based on personal prestige and power. It is a concept developed by Weber. Scholars have used other terms such as personal rule and neopatrimonialism. Public resources tend be used for patronage or private purposes, resulting in a lack of public investment. Thus, the state is not a tool for public development but for private gains and rewarding support networks. See also Leonard & Straus, 2003, pp. 6–7.

43. Patrimonial tendencies in African politics have not disappeared with recent democratic reforms. Despite change in the form of governance the contents remain the same, and patronage, corruption and personal rule are the major elements. See Hyden, 1997, p. 253.

44. Khembo, 2005, p. 4.

45. Khembo, 2004, p. 93.

46. ‘Muluzi, Chihana attack opponents’, 4 August 2003.

47. ‘UDF abuse MTL funds’, 20 May 2004.

48. ‘UDF abuse MTL funds’, 20 May 2004.

49. ‘Privatisation proceeds abused’, 7 September 2005.

50. Chinsinga, 2004, p. 269.

51. ‘Bingu meets Central Region chiefs’, 2008.

52. ‘Chiefs get windfall’, 30 June 2009.

53. ‘Modify or justify — Malawi asked to seriously review its first-past-the-post electoral system’, 17–23 July 2004.

54. Heywood, 2002, p. 233.

55. A ‘fair’ election means the rules are applied in unbiased fashion to all participants and also that the distribution of relevant resources among competitors is not too unequal. Fairness demands that each party should have equal opportunity to win support of the electorate. Central to fairness of an election is the principle of equality. On the other hand, ‘free’ means the right and opportunity of citizens to choose one candidate or party over another in the absence of any coercion. In elections this includes freedom of speech and communication of ideas, as well as the right to hold marches, rallies and meetings.

56. ‘Elections weren't free and fair’, 1 June 2004.

57. ‘EU spells out May 19 poll irregularities, 5 August 2009.

58. ‘EC queried on additional polling centre’, 15 May 2009.

59. ‘Free the air waves’, 22 July 2004.

60. ‘Assessment of Parliament's performance 2004–2009’, 2009.

61. ‘Assessment of Parliament's performance 2004–2009’, 2009, p. 19.

62. ‘Macra spends over K300 million on DPP Campaign materials’, 10 May 2009.

63. For example, in 2004, the leader of the Republican Party, Gwanda Chakuwamba, issued a circular which declared that he had won the presidential election before the official results were released. The opposition supporters took to the streets when three days later the official results showed that it was actually the UDF presidential candidate, Bingu wa Mutharika, who had won. The situation degenerated into violence and chaos, which resulted in deaths and damage to property.

64. ‘Tembo sues Undule over Chafukira's Death’, 22 October 2009.

65. Civil society in this context refers to all non-state actors comprising all citizens, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), religious organisations, trade unions, professional organisations, community-based organisations, and social and economic groups that operate outside state institutions.

66. Newell, 1999, p. 206.

67. ‘Address the hunger situation’, 19 October 2005.

68. Chinsinga, 2009.

69. ‘Malawi ranked 5th on food security’, 20 October 2009.

70. ‘Malawi plunges on governance index’, 6 October 2009.