A Chance for Malawi to Practice Contact and Dialogue and emerge from politics of deceit.

Section 65 has generated quite an interesting debate; religious leaders, political leaders, traditional leaders, NGOs, Civil Rights Activists, writers and the general public are having their say especially on what should be handled first by our parliament -pronouncement on crossing the floor or the budget. Three schools of thought have emerged through the debate; those that feel budget should come first and section 65 later, others say section 65 first and budget later and then there is another group that says the rule of law should go in tandem with economic development: one should not wait for the other. Apart from the debate and the increased polarisation between the opposition and the ruling, this political impasse has created several golden opportunities. One of the opportunities is that our politicians have a chance to practice contact and dialogue thereby coming to an agreeable resolution. The second is that people of Malawi will have a chance to be witnesses to the fact that the truth shall prevail. Finally, with all the private media houses around, and not just the state-run media houses, the people of Malawi have the opportunity to tell liars from honest politicians. Propaganda is slowly dying and soon or later, truth shall be our guide.

So what should be done about the current political impasse?

First, justice should be allowed to take its course in parliament – those that are not supposed to be in parliament according to law should leave the house. It is the people that are not supposed to be in parliament that are causing the political impasse.

Second, our conduct of politics should change. There is a lot of character assassination, foul language and lack of true love among our politicians. Ever observed the behaviour of Honourable Aleke Banda between 2004 to date? The man is the kind of politician Malawi needs. I can listen and sympathise with Aleke. We don’t need the propaganda type of politician that feeds on the illiteracy of the poor people.


Revelations

Most of our politicians are liars
Some of our politicians regard Malawians as dumb people so they tell lies
Malawi has a long way to go to reach a balance between socio-economic development and the rule of law.
Most Malawians listen blindly to the politicians they love and trash all that is said by a politician they hate.
Malawi has a group of visionary and democratic politicians who are ready to stand for the truth no matter what.




Questions, questions, questions

There are many lingering questions in the wake of recent events in Malawi. For example, When should our laws be applicable or could these be used selectively – are the leaders really speaking the truth when they say they speaking on behalf of the poor people or it’s just one way of inducing sympathy and favour from the poor masses – is money not changing hands – are the chiefs speaking in support of the government because of the new perks - between the village headman and the chief who works more for the people? Until these questions and many more are answered truthfully, until there are no double standards, until our politicians stop currying favour with the president, Malawi shall never be free from the various wrangles that we are currently going through.

Concluding

Whatever the case Malawi has a chance to refine its laws as well as change the way it conducts its business. Our leaders, be it political, religious and traditional risk losing our trust because of their inability to address issues truthfully. By accepting that things have gone wrong, by honestly approaching each other to work out things and putting Malawi first and not individual pride, shall Malawi be saved from the current political impasse.

Kamuzu talked of contact and dialogue. We have seen the Bakili administration pushing through various agendas popular and unpopular through coalitions. During the early days of Mutharika’s rule we saw what few might have imagined – NDA got dissolved, RP did the same and joined hands with UDF. I believe this was done in order to ensure that government was able to push through its agendas in parliament with relative ease. It is my humble belief that all this was possible because there was contact and dialogue. The political impasse Malawi is experiencing could melt away with a dose of contact and dialogue

Basically all our politicians are fighting for power. They need this power to push their agendas through. For example, during the last two annual budget sessions we have seen a lot of power play between the ruling and the opposition. This power play has ensured that Malawi gets a well refined budget and great commitment from Government to implementing the budget. Therefore the opposition cannot be dismissed as not having constructively contributed to whatever development has been registered during the past three years. The same applies to the ruling; they have to a great extent implemented what was agreed to be implemented. The government needs the opposition to develop Malawi. Two can play the game.