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Civil society organisations Wednesday held what they called “a last word” press conference in Lilongwe where among other things they issued guidelines on how registered voters must choose a president on the polling day, Tuesday next week.
The guidelines expresses a view of the civil society on the kind of leader Malawi needs after the polling day, and a detailed analysis of each of the five presidential candidates in terms of their strengths and weaknesses.
The Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC), Malawi Electoral Support Network (Mesn), Public Affairs Committee (Pac) and the Society for the Advancement of Women (Saw) jointly convened the press conference.
The civil society’s view is that Malawi needs a leader who fits within the following criteria:
· Who was not imposed on people
· Who speaks for himself about what he/she intends to do
· Who achieved in the past assignments at any level
· Who is God fearing
· Who has high moral integrity and high family values
· Who listens to the advice from the clergy
· Who would protect freedom of worship
· Who promotes the need for unity of all Malawians
· Who is tolerant
Other attributes are:
· Who is ready to settle for a lesser position for the sake of the country
· Who is not dividing people on the basis of religion
· Who does not foster nepotism, tribalism and regionalism
· Who has respect for all manner of people
· Who stands for peace and justice
· Who is respected by all manner of people
· Who is not suspected to have planned political killings and/or other atrocities
· Who is not associated with financial mismanagement of public resources or any other organization
Following are other characteristics:
· Who accepts that Malawi is poorer than 10 years ago
· Who is ready to rectify the following problems:
· Food insecurity
· High prices of commodities
· Low standards of education
· Inavailability of drugs in hospitals
· Environmental degradation
· Unemployment
· Sale and closure of companies
· Moral decadence
· Turning Malawians into beggars
· Corruption/Laziness/Crime
Others are:
· Who is visionary
· Who responds to the needs of people timeously
· Who believes in rule of law
· Who rejected open/this term efforts
· Who believes in accountability and transparency
· Who is a servant of the people
· Who would support removal of MPs who do not perform
· Whom the ruling party has never bought
· Who is not associated with corruption in any government ministry
· Who would empower the Anti Corruption Bureau
HRCC chair Rodgers Newa urged all registered voters to choose carefully and wisely, saying “the choice they make on Tuesday next week will determine the destiny of this country.”
“We have corrupt people among our leaders. We have criminals among them. We have leaders who were imposed on the people. We have people who do not listen to the concerns of the people. We have people who are not issue oriented by attacking others. Malawians must not vote for such people,” said Newa.
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