There is a pervasive self-serving view, almost some form of arrogance, that you see in the opposition parties these days.
\nThe mistaken view goes something like this. Because the DPP administration has messed our lives big time through poor governance, nepotism, incompetence and corruption, among other evils, then it is almost automatic, a done deal, that come 2019 Malawians will give power to the opposition.
\nThis cannot be more further from the truth.
\nThe simple truth is that come 2019, Malawians will not replace one band of thieves and incompetents with another.
\nIf that were the case, then it would be better to just maintain the present DPP band.
\nMalawi has not made progress that has cascaded to the common man on ground to see better quality of life in the many years gone by.
\nGranted, the past five years have not seen anything different. It has been one sad story of nepotism, rampant corruption, poor governance, a slovenly incompetent government, and the list can go on until cows come home.
\nBut the opposition will be fool-hardy to think that by merely attacking these bad characteristics in the DPP rule, then bingo! Come some cold day in May, 2019 they will be in government.
\nThere is a lot they must do.
\n For starters, let me isolate MCP.
\nThe party, led by its leader, Dr Lazarus Chakwera, has done a stellar job in exposing President
\nPeter Mutharika and his DPP\u2019s misrule and how incompetent they have been in the last four years.
\nPerhaps MCP\u2019s good performance on October 17 last year to win big in by elections was down to this fact.
\nBut it is not enough. MCP must prove to Malawians that it is ready to govern after being in the wildness for over 25 years.
\nFirst of all, it must put out a united front something which is a far cry from what is happening on ground.
\nThere are still too many soup spoilers and disgruntled individuals in MCP such as Chatinkha Chidzanja Nkhoma and crew who are happy to sow seeds of confusion.
\nThen there is policy.
\nIt is not enough for MCP to say DPP is corrupt because Malawians know it is and it upsets them. What I personally want to hear as a citizen is what policy the party will put up to curb corruption.
\nThe fight to stop the idea that Malawians are mere slaves who pay tax but it all ends in thieves\u2019 pockets at Capital Hill, can be dealt with if the ACB is given teeth to bite.
\nThis would happen if ACB was freed from the jaws of the Executive tyranny by making the tenure of its director and deputy safe.
\nPresident Peter Mutharika and his DPP, despite promising it in their manifesto, shamelessly made a U-turn after being voted into office.
\nWhat does MCP promise Malawians on this? What is its policy on the fight against corruption? It is pretty much the same with all sectors, ranging from health to agriculture and energy.
\nThe opposition must have policy documents to guide it.
\nSoon it will be a season of conventions. But all we hear and see are people jostling for positions in these opposition parties.
\nNobody is talking about making the conventions to discuss policy apart from being elective.
\nNobody is talking of parties putting together committees or think tanks to come up with policy stands on various matters affecting the nation leading to policy documents.
\nSuch policy documents would also lay the philosophical basis and show the strategic direction parties would take on public matters that inform the electorate what they would vote for.
\nBut there is nothing of that sort. In other words, the opposition will ask Malawians to give them power because DPP has failed but they do not know what to do with that power in order to serve Malawians.
\nSimply put, it is power for its own sake that opposition parties are seeking.
\nThe danger with this is that Malawians run the risk of replacing one set of thieves with another set as confusion still reigns supreme in the opposition parties.
\nAnd talking of confusion reigning supreme, the opposition People\u2019s Party (PP) seems to be an epitome of it all these days.
\nThis week, the party tried to paper over the cracks by holding an executive committee meeting which fired Uladi Mussa as vice president and suspended Ralph Jooma as another vice president from the Eastern Region.
\nThese were good overdue decisions as the two have clearly left the party and they have one foot already in the DPP.
\nAll this is a result of the romance some PP MPs had with DPP to form a front to reject the electoral reform bills in Parliament. It is clear that some of the PP
\nMPs such as Uladi and Jooma are finding it hard to leave the tango of the romance with DPP.
\nThe fact that PP, during the meeting, made it clear it is not in an alliance with DPP underlines that fact and confusion.
\nThe only question that PP should ask itself is why Malawians should return it to power when it is projecting an image of chaos and lack of strategic direction.
\nMalawians, I repeat, are not obliged to replace thieves, incompetents and confused band with another.
\nThe opposition parties must show that they are different.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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