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May 20, 2004 general elections were one of the most ground-shaking elections in Malawi history. Ground-shaking indeed, as many familiar faces on the country’s political landscape fell by the wayside since they could not withstand the tremors of this political tsunami.
Political parties, once considered sacred and safest platforms to launch and consolidate one’s political career lost their gloss and primacy. Parties like UDF and Aford suddenly became the easiest routes to one’s political doom as imposition of candidates and in-fighting characterised their politics.
And with a storm, independent candidates sprang up to offer themselves to the electorate as the alternative and safest hands for people to entrust their destiny. Come the results, 38 of the ‘independent pretenders’ managed to carry the day.
The development was hailed in some quarters as the dawn of a new era in the country’s politics where personal attributes — and not party affiliation — would be primary determinant of one’s political fortunes.
But the question one may ask is: Are independent MPs a permanent feature in the country’s political scene? Indeed, in the case that parties manage to mend their cracks, will independent candidates stand a chance of enjoying the political glory they seem to be wallowing in now?
“No!” says Nixon Khembo, a political analyst at Chancellor College. Khembo feels the divisions that characterized politics mainly in UDF and Aford created the room for the independent MPs to come onto the scene and that when these problems are over, independent candidates will obviously lose their new-found political fortunes.
“These things [intra-party conflicts] are just characteristics of a transition. Our political parties and political thinking are in a state of transition. When we mature and stabilise as a democracy, I don’t see much room for independent members of parliament to enjoy the kind of popularity they are enjoying,” argues Khembo.
He thinks political parties are safer than individual as drivers of political processes like democracy because as institutions it is easier to hold them accountable than individuals. To him it is in the interest of the public to strengthen political parties as the fulcrums where politics should revolve rather than individuals like independent MPs.
“Independents can let the people down and it is difficult to hold individuals accountable but institutions like political parties are a collectivity of different interests, values, people, views and they last more than individuals. So, it is in the public interests that institutions must be strengthened rather than individuals,” says Khembo.
However, he warns political parties not to take their advantages over independents for granted. He says parties must demonstrate why people should follow them by holding and promoting values that can earn the respect of the people.
“People must have reasons to follow a particular political party. The reasons are that the parties should be democratic, institutionalised, there must be fair play and that they must have values worth of people’s following,” adds Khembo.
Another political analyst at Chanco, Boniface Dulani thinks the rise of independent MPs to the pedestal of the country’s politics should be attributed to the fact that MPs who are voted on party tickets tend to put the interests of their parties above those of the people who voted for them. He says people voted for independent candidates as a revolt to such MPs.
To Dulani, divisions and lack of democracy in parties were not the major forces that propelled independent candidates to victory
“As long as candidates who stand on a party ticket continue to represent their parties and themselves more than the people, then the phenomenon of independent MPs is likely to be a permanent feature in our politics,” contends Dulani.
Unlike Khembo, Dulani believes that independent candidates still stand a chance of winning elections even in a situation where political parties are strong. He argues that Malawians have demonstrated that they can vote for people on the basis of their policies and personal attributes rather than merely on the basis of their party orientation.
Dulani advises independent MPs to reflect a truly independent spirit when handling issues by promoting the views and aspirations of their constituents and not necessarily those of political parties. To him, there is nothing wrong for them joining political parties as long as they demonstrate their independence even if their positions clash with those of their parties.
“They should be truly independent even if they join another political party. They should not put the interests of political parties above the interests of their electorate,” says Dulani.
Director for Institute for Policy Interaction, Rafik Hajat shares Dulani’s view that independent candidates can still win elections even in the event of parties getting back to their old strong footing. He believes Malawians are beginning to understand the importance of voting for people for what they are capable of achieving rather than the party sponsoring them.
“The survival of independents doesn’t only depend on the parties mending their fences but also on how the party in government governs,” says Hajat.
He thinks there is no difference between voting for parties or independents because none of them is bound by ideologies.
“Parties are driven by personalities and not ideologies and when you are voting for a political party, you are voting for individuals which is the same as voting for independents,” contends Hajat.
In the past elections UDF was the main creator and victim of the “independent culture”. The party’s stronghold, the Southern Region, saw 28 independent candidates carrying the day. In Mangochi, one of the fiercest pro-UDF districts in eight of the 10 winners of the parliamentary race were independent candidates.
Although some of them have since joined the party, the conflicts that prompted many to stand as independents are still there and are bound to create even more problems and, consequently, independent candidates in future elections.
Not in the distant future, though.
In President Bingu wa Mutharika’s Thyolo east constituency, where parliamentary by-elections will be held on January 11, 2005, the party is divided on the candidate to represent it. One camp is supporting the official party candidate, Foster Chataika Mlumbe, while another one is rallying behind an independent candidate, Babu Khamisa.
As Khembo argues, such intra-party rivalries bode well for the future of independents as they can continue to capitalise on the crumbling party system to seek and attain power. Whether problems in parties are enough to keep independent MPs in their positions in the long term is quite another issue.
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