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With three months to go before the May 18 general elections, opposition leaders are still upbeat about fielding one candidate to fight UDF’s Bingu Mutharika in the presidential elections but they do not seem decided on the parliamentary elections.
National Democratic Alliance (NDA) president Brown Mpinganjira this week doubted whether it is possible for the coalition to come up with a common manifesto and field coalition candidates in the parliamentary elections.
“The coalition is workable but it may not be possible to have a comprehensive arrangement as we had planned because time is not on our side,” said Mpinganjira. “Issues like the fielding of one common parliamentary candidate where a particular party is popular may not be possible because that needs a lot of time and we need to choose a leader by the end of this month.”
Malawi Forum for Unity and Development (Mafunde) interim president George Mnesa was also sceptical, saying it will be a mammoth task to hold primaries for parliamentary candidates because “time is of essence now”.
“I feel we don’t have time for that but for choosing a leader there is a proposal that every party sends an equal number of delegates to a national conference to elect a coalition leader. As long as we don’t go beyond January, we can achieve all that we planned and form a common stand,” said Mnesa.
Interim president of New Congress Party Hetherwick Ntaba said time is not the only problem but personality clashes as well.
“It took the MCP and Aford 18 months to negotiate an electoral alliance in 1999 and it still found some problems. This coalition can be negotiated in a month but the problem is that of personalities, they all want to be presidents,” said Ntaba.
But People’s Progressive Movement (PPM) President Aleke Banda on Friday indicated the coalition might still extend to parlaimentary elections.
“We are aware that time is getting short but we have made a lot of progress. We will be signing a memorandum of understanding in a few days time and that will allow us to proceed with the selection of a presidential candidate and [to decide] how to proceed with getting a common parliamentary candidate,” said Aleke.
The electoral calendar has set February 25, as the day when the Electoral Commission will receive nomination papers from presidential candidates. Nomination papers for parliamentary candidates will be received the following day.
Kholiwe Mkandawire, People’s Transformation Party (Petra) publicity secretary defended the slow pace for the talks, saying rather than affecting the coalition agenda, it allowed the opposition to watch unfolding events in various parties.
Said Mkandawire: “As far as we are concerned, it’s not mandatory that all parties hold conventions. Some parties are not interested in fielding a presidential candidate so we can still get a presidential candidate this month from those that are ready.
“We have not lost time. Actually this has given us time to accommodate all the developments on the political front. I mean, look, who knew that MCP would be split into two?”
Petra holds a convention later this month on January 30 to 31 at National Resources College in Lilongwe.
This week Tembo remained positive that despite recent developments on the political scene, the coalition will work and that there is time.
“We are coming towards a very crucial issue to negotiate with parties that have been mandated by their people and now is the time to work for a coalition,” Tembo said.
Bazuka Mhango, deputy president for Chakuamba’s breakaway party, the Republican, said the coalition will work.
“The cry of everyone else is that they want a coalition and that is what will make it work, there is no question of time,” said Mhango.
Chancellor College Political Scientist Nixon Khembo does not think holding primaries will be possible with the time remaining. He said every party should be allowed to field their candidates to promote democratic competition at grassroot level and see who is popular.
“But a national conference should be held where every party will be treated equally and allowed equal delegates from the executive to elect a coalition leader. If this is done, this will allow for a leader to be elected with a broader mandate and enjoy deeper legitimacy if elected president,” he said.
Khembo warned the opposition against a coalition that is solely focused on removing UDF from power, saying they should seek a common agenda that works beyond the May 18 general elections.
“They should be speaking of consolidating the parties by merging into a broader grouping than just an electoral alliance,” he said.
On Friday the opposition were holding coalition talks in Lilongwe.,
With three months to go before the May 18 general elections, opposition leaders are still upbeat about fielding one candidate to fight UDF’s Bingu Mutharika in the presidential elections but they do not seem decided on the parliamentary elections.
National Democratic Alliance (NDA) president Brown Mpinganjira this week doubted whether it is possible for the coalition to come up with a common manifesto and field coalition candidates in the parliamentary elections.
“The coalition is workable but it may not be possible to have a comprehensive arrangement as we had planned because time is not on our side,” said Mpinganjira. “Issues like the fielding of one common parliamentary candidate where a particular party is popular may not be possible because that needs a lot of time and we need to choose a leader by the end of this month.”
Malawi Forum for Unity and Development (Mafunde) interim president George Mnesa was also sceptical, saying it will be a mammoth task to hold primaries for parliamentary candidates because “time is of essence now”.
“I feel we don’t have time for that but for choosing a leader there is a proposal that every party sends an equal number of delegates to a national conference to elect a coalition leader. As long as we don’t go beyond January, we can achieve all that we planned and form a common stand,” said Mnesa.
Interim president of New Congress Party Hetherwick Ntaba said time is not the only problem but personality clashes as well.
“It took the MCP and Aford 18 months to negotiate an electoral alliance in 1999 and it still found some problems. This coalition can be negotiated in a month but the problem is that of personalities, they all want to be presidents,” said Ntaba.
But People’s Progressive Movement (PPM) President Aleke Banda on Friday indicated the coalition might still extend to parlaimentary elections.
“We are aware that time is getting short but we have made a lot of progress. We will be signing a memorandum of understanding in a few days time and that will allow us to proceed with the selection of a presidential candidate and [to decide] how to proceed with getting a common parliamentary candidate,” said Aleke.
The electoral calendar has set February 25, as the day when the Electoral Commission will receive nomination papers from presidential candidates. Nomination papers for parliamentary candidates will be received the following day.
Kholiwe Mkandawire, People’s Transformation Party (Petra) publicity secretary defended the slow pace for the talks, saying rather than affecting the coalition agenda, it allowed the opposition to watch unfolding events in various parties.
Said Mkandawire: “As far as we are concerned, it’s not mandatory that all parties hold conventions. Some parties are not interested in fielding a presidential candidate so we can still get a presidential candidate this month from those that are ready.
“We have not lost time. Actually this has given us time to accommodate all the developments on the political front. I mean, look, who knew that MCP would be split into two?”
Petra holds a convention later this month on January 30 to 31 at National Resources College in Lilongwe.
This week Tembo remained positive that despite recent developments on the political scene, the coalition will work and that there is time.
“We are coming towards a very crucial issue to negotiate with parties that have been mandated by their people and now is the time to work for a coalition,” Tembo said.
Bazuka Mhango, deputy president for Chakuamba’s breakaway party, the Republican, said the coalition will work.
“The cry of everyone else is that they want a coalition and that is what will make it work, there is no question of time,” said Mhango.
Chancellor College Political Scientist Nixon Khembo does not think holding primaries will be possible with the time remaining. He said every party should be allowed to field their candidates to promote democratic competition at grassroot level and see who is popular.
“But a national conference should be held where every party will be treated equally and allowed equal delegates from the executive to elect a coalition leader. If this is done, this will allow for a leader to be elected with a broader mandate and enjoy deeper legitimacy if elected president,” he said.
Khembo warned the opposition against a coalition that is solely focused on removing UDF from power, saying they should seek a common agenda that works beyond the May 18 general elections.
“They should be speaking of consolidating the parties by merging into a broader grouping than just an electoral alliance,” he said.
On Friday the opposition were holding coalition talks in Lilongwe.
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