A PRESIDENCY BORN OUT OF WEDLOCK It’s been exactly one week since Malawians went to the polls to cast their votes, but the country has yet to hear the outcome of the election. The delay, which shows no sign of ending anytime soon, has been triggered by a series of ongoing battles that political parties have been engaged in on several fronts. By now, only the ignorant and naïve still believe that the presidency in Malawi is secured by winning the battle for votes alone. To be sure, the battle for votes from the electorate was waged for two whole months through a campaign season, which ended two days before Election Day. But while we wait for the outcome of that contest, it has become clear that the outcome of the battle for votes depends on the outcome of other battles. For example, most parties have rejoiced at the MEC’s decision to recount the votes, but the Democratic Progressive Party, whose presidential candidate was widely reported to be in the lead by the reckoning of the numbers now known to be fraudulent, went to the High Court to secure an injunction stopping the MEC from conducting the recount. Twenty four hours later, the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), convinced that the vote numbers were skewed to rob them of victory, went to the High Court to get an injunction of their own to vacate the DPP’s injunction, thus freeing the MEC to carry on a recount as planned. Twenty four hours after that, the DPP presidential candidate’s layer, Kalekeni Kaphale, was still arguing that MEC is still legally constrained from conducting a recount because even though the MCP had gotten their injunction vacated, another injunction obtained by the New Labor Party against MEC’s recount was still valid. In response, MCP’s lawyer, Gustav Kaliwo, prepared himself to appear in court not only to argue that his party’s injunction not only stays every injunction stopping MEC’s recount, but to also ask the court to make his injunction permanent. It is clearly the beginning of a legal battle that will no doubt have an impact on the credibility of the election result. At the same time, political parties have locked horns in a battle for public opinion on their varied positions regarding the vote recount. In a highly combative debate on Zodiak Broadcasting Station, Nicholas Dausi represented the DPP in arguing against the recount, while Daud Suleman, Ken Msonda, and Nancy Tembo of the Malawi Congress Party, the People’s Party, and Electoral Commission respectively all argued in favor of the recount. The isolation of being the only party against a vote recount has raised public suspicion about the credibility of the lead the DPP was reported to be having in the polls, but the adamant decision by the Malawi Electoral Commission to do the recount has left the DPP with no choice but to go along with it. In a momentous declaration on Monday night, Justice Maxon Mbendera said the recount would be completed first before any final results are announced and the High Court would be approached to give the MEC an extension of 3 to 4 weeks to conduct the recount to verify the results before announcing them. When Mbendera finished his press conference, a significant number of the people present began to chant in celebration of his leadership, resolve, and determination to get to the bottom of the anomalies. It was perhaps an indication that not only was the DPP losing the battle for public opinion, but they are also losing the battle for influence on MEC’s decisions. Together, the battles for public opinion, for influence on MEC, and for legal dominance will all have an impact on the credibility of the final outcome. As things stand, the recount itself appears to be the last battle, the last hill that will be fought over. It is likely that the Democratic Progressive Party is gearing itself up for this final frontier, for they must now throw in the kitchen sink at this recount operation to ensure things go well for them. They have tried to stop the recount with an injunction, but it has failed. They have tried to discredit the recount with a media smear campaign, but their argument has been dealt with both by MEC and other parties. We can only hope that the party has enough character to resist the temptation to use less savory tactics to render the recount irrelevant to the final outcome. If the DPP was made up of mercenaries, gangsters, thugs, and mafia, they could next attempt to sabotage the recount by gaining access to the warehouses where the ballot boxes are stored and damage the contents before the recount. If that failed, they could show up at the recount and try to frustrate the process by bringing chaos and confusion to the process. If that failed, they could use their deep pockets to bribe officials involved in the recount to produce results that are bogus. If that failed, they could reject any unfavorable result of the recount and election by challenging it in court while another winner is sworn in. If that failed, they could incite civil unrest to bring any incoming government to its knees. But all this would only happen if the DPP was a party of mercenaries, gangsters, thugs, mafia, and thieves. Thankfully, it is a party of lawyers, professors, and professionals. The result of all the battlefronts on which this election has been fought is that it has put the legitimacy of the result in jeopardy. If the election is decided by results that include figures the MEC has proved to be fraudulent, we will have a presidency, but it will be one without legal legitimacy. If the election is decided by results that are based on a vote recount in violation of the courts, we will have a presidency, but it will be one without legal legitimacy. If the election is decided by results that are based on a vote recount that turns out to be chaotic, or inconclusive, or incomprehensive due to too many damaged or missing ballots, we will have a presidency, but it will be one without legal legitimacy. If while the MEC conducts a vote recount, Joyce Banda continues to be president beyond her legal mandate, we will have a presidency, but it be one without legal legitimacy. In fact, there presently may not be any path to the presidency that has full legal legitimacy, no path by which the next presidency can be birthed within the law. And so we might just have to choose a path that breaks the law less severely than the others. Perhaps the Lord has allowed this present crisis to expose the flaws within our systems: the contradictions in the legal system, the corruptibility of the electoral system, the partisanship of the religious system, the criminality in the political system, the falsehood of the media, the power abuse in our presidency, the inconsistency of our own constitution, and the irrelevance of Parliament. Perhaps one reason to wait patiently for the results no matter how long it takes is so that the Lord can complete this surgical procedure of cutting Malawi where it hurts until every putrid infection in our society comes to light. The Great Physician must never be rushed. Shalom.
Posted on: Tue, 27 May 2014 16:49:39 +0000
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