Pac has just romanced the devil

We are at pains to believe the discourse in some quarters that the Public Affairs Committee (Pac) is steadily losing credence and relevance.
Pac has a very rich history and has always been a colossal authority in championing good governance and democracy in the country. Since the inception of democracy, Pac has been a national symbol of democratic rectitude and, when it spoke, everyone, including the government, listened.
The past month or two, Pac made a decision to protest against the government’s reluctance to table the six Electoral Reforms [Amendment] Bills, a move which received massive support from most religious groupings and Malawians of goodwill.
The Catholic Church, Anglican Church, Malawi Council of Churches and many others gave their full support. Pac’s initial resolve was premised on forcing the government to table the six bills in question because it was clear that the government was and still is unwilling to table the bills. Then, it also dawned that the planned demonstrations would have an extension of issues to highlight including power outages, and governance in general. People were willing to join in the grand peaceful march to express national discontentment.
Suddenly, a day before, Pac decides to call off the demonstrations arguing that since the government has circulated—not tabled—five of the six bills in Parliament then there is no need to go to the streets.
What, surprisingly, Pac seems to have forgotten is that the government it is putting faith in has a way of being crooked and has no respect for pacts. Evidence is the butchered bills that it has circulated to Parliament.
Pac must not be naïve to start believing that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is an honest party and wants to see these important bills passed. Pac will realise soon that it has, advertently or not, been part of the scheme to kill Malawians’ dreams of having perfect electoral laws as well as a chance to express their disillusionment.
Knowing the DPP-led government, soon there will be something else that Pac would want to speak about and would need the support of the people. Unfortunately, chances that people will take Pac seriously are slim and next to zero because it seems like the quasi-religious figure has found a partner in the political devil.
The decision by Pac, whatever justification it gives, has weakened the body and has just made an oppressive regime even stronger. Pac needs to have a serious soul-searching before it slips into oblivion.