May 20 is just a few blocks away
before eligible Malawians and resident foreign nationals will cast their votes
in the first ever tripartite elections. Yes- this type of an election is the
first one of its kind in Malawi whereby office bearers in ward councils,
members of parliament for each of the 193 constituencies and a
president will all be voted for (or against) in a single election.
With precision and firm
conviction, I will tell you that from today the 30th of January
2014, we have exactly 108 days before we go to the polls on May 20, this very
same year. A lot of activities in preparation for the big day are taking place
on the ground. For instance, political parties have started conducting primary
elections that will help to decide who will represent them on a particular hot
seat. Very soon, the whistle will be blown for the race to begging. Serious
campaigning will then raise the tempo and the political atmospheric pressure in
Malawi.
Likewise, all registered voters
should also tighten their seat belts and make sure that they are attending
political campaign rallies in order to make sure that they should vote wisely.
Come the 20th May, everyone who will go to cast his or her
ballot should be able to make a self assessment to find out who and why they
will vote for a particular candidate.
The campaign period is normally a
time whereby MPs who never visited their constituencies will start
staying/camping right in the villages they shunned some years ago. They
behave like hunters or fishermen as they use so many irresistible baits to
catch the attention and support of innocent and poverty stricken villagers.
This is the time whereby some unprincipled politicians become men and women of
the people. They leave their shockingly expensive luxury cars and start walking
on foot, eating from the same plate with villagers and they carry themselves in
very different demeanors quite different from their usual selves. For
them, it is a time to obtain ‘poached eggs under false pretenses’.
In terms of material handouts,
people receive blankets, soap, flour, money etc just to buy the votes of
innocent people. This is also a time aspirants spend huge sums of money to
construct bridges, complete construction of school blocks that were abandoned
due to lack of construction materials and some even reach the point of funding
church building projects.
This is where the trick lies, once
they have been voted by the unsuspicious constituents, all the good things go
away with them to the capital city. This is a cancer that stagnates and slowly
kills people’s development needs and aspirations.
Thus, the bad choices that people
make in an election stay and torment them for five years. This is the reason
why Youth Net and Counseling (YONECO) with support from National Democratic
Institute is advocating for issue based voting. This is a move away from a
scenario whereby people were voting for contestants who were giving them
handouts to voting for a contender who shows that he/she has the welfare of
people at heart.
Voting for a candidate who was
offering money, clothes or food stuffs during campaign rallies has always been
a usual feature in the previous elections that Malawi has held. The aftermath
of it has always been very disastrous to the development and welfare of the
electorate.
Thus, issue based voting will
help the electorate and the aspiring contenders to talk about matters that
really need to be addressed in their wards. The aspirants are also supposed to
produce comprehensive manifestos and before casting the ballots, the electorate
will know if and how a particular aspirant will address certain developmental
issues once in power. The aspirants will then make a pact with the electorate by
signing a social contract in accordance to what a particular aspirant promises
to do once they vote for him or her.
It is a waste of an opportunity to
vote for a contestant simply because he or she clothed or fed you once or twice
during the campaign period- How are your other everyday needs be met? Identify
issues that need to be addressed in your area and then find out whether your
aspirants will address them (and how) or not.
Vote for contenders whose manifestos
are clear and in accordance to the needs of the people!
6 comments:
this is your time Malawians to excise your right vote wisely.
we need to be careful with these greedy politicians who give us fifty kwachas during campaigns and abandon us when they are in office
good advises its for us Malawians to make use of these free advice.noted and thanks for the post.
thank u for sharing this, indeed it is high time that we need to think when choosing the right candidate on May, 2014. and this is another way of making Malawi a better world.. good candidate good Malawi, really lets use the message. thank you once again
As the count down continues we really need wake up...Karim, Tionge,Chimwemwe and Frazer I am really glad that you are really with me in this.We need to utilize this chance that comes once in every five years
Keep it up and it’s high time Malawians take these first ever tripartite elections as a key instrument for national progress and development and not a mere competition between political parties.
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