Presidential candidates are seldom selected from an anthology of low-profile politicians, neither are they picked from a collection of those politicians whose political futures are in their twilights. Most of them have an easy anointing from their supporters or whoever might have the power to do so, when they have already blazed the trail. Nevertheless, sometimes presidential candidates are pulled from the scraps of what was never universally accepted as the ideal category of leaders-to-be.
Those candidates who are hauled from dormant states are made to be accepted by the majority as the ideal ones through rigorous campaigns which are only aimed at brainwashing doubters. And hard tasks are usually there when the presidential candidate has been carted from nothing in the wake of lack of a proper alternative. But in the face of numerous alternatives, the candidate can be easily but rigorously sold out to the masses within the shortest possible time.
Bingu wa Mutharika had been there in politics before he became the second democratically elected president of Malawi; but he had never been popular. In fact, during the 1999 presidential elections, he was the least performer, savaging 22 073 of 2 978 885 total votes representing less than one percent of the total number of votes cast.
Yet, only five years later, he became the most powerful and popular citizen of Malawi. There was nothing peculiar about Bingu's success; only that it came out a little alarmingly such that it was generally agreed that some men are really blessed with convincing tongues which can soften even the hardest hearts.
The man who sold out Mutharika was constantly described as a political engineer by himself and his admires. And, to date, some Malawians still believe that his eloquence remains without parallel. Yet, others still believe that everything was possible because he had all the financial muscle to move across the length and breadth of this country, manipulating the minds of voters who quickly changed their stands and voted for Mutharika.
The campaign period - the period when Bingu was to be sold out - was small; apparently, too small for one to change the minds of Malawians, but after the elections, the period was proved to have been enough. It was within it that most Malawians got to like a man they had only known very little about only some few weeks ago. It became the historical campaign period in Malawi politics.
And cries from the civil society and other concerned stakeholders that Muluzi had unnecessarily used government machinery in campaigning for Bingu just became faint cries of agony whose impact got diluted by the overwhelming power of the government that finally got the mantle of this country.
Even though, the same government got so much into the business of ensuring corruption was a notion of the past - a thing it embraces to this day - it never prosecuted Muluzi for ushering it into power using 'illegal' ways. Thus, it may be just to intimate that even the current government can use government machinery to campaign for whoever it loves without the fear of facing prosecution in the end, due to the conviction that once they get into power, the new leader would in no way shoot themselves in the foot.
Peter Mutharika has now been endorsed by all the three regions as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate for the 2014 general elections. Government might resort to using all means at its disposal to sell him to the masses so that he is finally 'integrated' into the minds of Malawians so that they can finally like him. In fact, it appears the selling has almost established its roots. A week barely passes without the president's brother beamed on the country's sole television station, MBC.
Well, his beaming, for argument's sake, might not mean that he is being sold out to Malawians so that they get familiar with him; but can we loudly intimate that he is being beamed on TVM now and then because he is the only 'hectic' minister who is trying his utmost to make sure his ministry is the most efficient in Malawi? Maybe.
After all, DPP regional governor for the south Noel Masangwi has this to say about Peter's publicity: “Both the state and private media cover him as Justice Minister like any other minister is covered by the press.”
“We have seen it; Peter is given more publicity than the Vice President, who, in ranking, is above him. While in certain instances, the Vice President is only beamed on TVM during replays, Peter is given full live coverage, a thing which is rare for a mere minister. This could be a deliberate move aimed at promoting him while suppressing Honourable Joyce Banda.
“We cannot keep pretending that the VP is not being slowly removed from the list of popular people. She is a victim of politics of elimination, only that hers is a little systematic, such that she remains there in her position while being outside in practical politics,” observes a political commentator who did not want to be named.
Bingu has all along found nothing wrong with his brother vying for presidency - of course, indeed, there is nothing wrong, for he is a bonafide citizen of Malawi, and qualifies without any speck of doubt to contest as president. But, perhaps the hurdle might be whether Malawians will embrace the notion of having a former president's brother as the next president.
Some people can argue - and I do so as well - that if Peter contests, he will do so as a Malawian. This is a valid argument, but the brotherhood aspect remains so and out of everything else, it is the only thing that cannot be erased. Malawians will always have in their minds that a president's brother is contesting; they will rarely consider the other true aspect - that he is also a native Malawian, who is constitutionally legitimate to contest for any position, just like Bingu pointed out sometime back.
“Any candidate in DPP will have government machinery at their disposal, even if it is Peter. They will be popularized using all possible ways, and chances that they will be one of the favourites cannot be underestimated. But, perhaps, if the president's brother is to stand, then another approach of 'popularizing' him might be needed,” says Joseph Manda, a Zomba-based political commentator.
Manda says he has published research papers on the viability of Malawi ever embracing what he calls “dynasty in political positions, particularly the presidency” and has noted several times that Malawians will just need someone else as a presidential candidate, even for their favourite political party, not the current president's brother. Yet, now the writing is clear on the wall that Peter is the next DPP candidate.
When Muluzi anointed Bingu against the wishes of most, if not all, UDF senior members, it became apparent that he thought he would rule Malawi indirectly, a thing which keeps haunting him to this day. He had an alternative: his son Atupele would have been his target, but it appears he had read Malawians and had concluded that they would not be ready for the Muluzi dynasty.
In fact, if Atupele became the next UDF presidential candidate, after his father, there wouldn't be a wide gap between the affairs of the two. Well, this might be theoretically proved wrong, but the practical part of it would, perhaps vindicate the assumption. But, still, perhaps Muluzi excluded Atupele from his considered potential candidates because he knew Malawians would take it with a lot of reservations.
But, Bingu sees things differently; he is not Muluzi and, of course, they have very little in common. He thinks his brother Peter can run for any position, including that of presidency. Well, the president never said Peter 'should' run for any position, but only clarified that he was at liberty to do so as a Malawian, not necessarily as his brother.
But, oftentimes, such kinds of sentiments need to be scrutinized more than once, especially when they follow hot on the heels of related scenarios which but have initially been condemned by the same announcer of the sentiments. In essence, before Bingu made it clear that his brother was free to run for any position, there had been the issue of some DPP top members positioning themselves as the party's presidential candidates for the 2014 presidential race.
And Bingu had come out in the open to bash the ambitious party gurus for failing to concentrate on more urgent issues to do with the development of this country. The president's bashing shut the mouths of many, and of course, informed them that he might not consider them as the right presidential candidates for the party come the year of remembrance.
“The bashing might have been aimed at creating room for his brother to be 'popularized' without any hurdle. He might have thought that if a number of top DPP members continued positioning themselves for 2014, then his brother might have very little room for being made popular among the majority of voters. Of course, we need to be mindful of the fact that the ruling party would eventually hold a convention where the party's 2014 torchbearer would be elected,” a political scientist who chose not to be named replied in a questionnaire.
But, if history is anything to go by, it may be said without fear of contradiction that if Muluzi endorsed Bingu at the expense of numerous 'potential' members who had tirelessly supported him throughout his tenure of office - who had gone to the extent of supporting the former president's infamous third term bill - then there is nothing that can stop those who want to endorse Peter from disappointing numerous members of the ruling DPP who might have all along thought they would be the next DPP presidential candidate.
After all, in politics, sometimes the best way of progressing is by ignoring the cries of some who might deem your policies to be unwise. And, Peter's supporters may finally employ this notion and endorse the law professor for the ruling party's presidential candidate for 2014.
Furthermore, if history is to be applied in the current political situation (or is it the future political scenario?) and inferring from her low publicity, we may be drawn to assuming that Joyce Banda cannot be the next presidential candidate for the ruling party for 2014.
In fact, this has been the case since we attained our multiparty democracy: Muluzi was totally unwilling to let Justin Malewezi be the next president of Malawi; and Bingu reached the point of saying that his first second, Cassim Chilumpha, had resigned from his position constructively, something which might have been due to the fact that there was a sour relationship between the two. And, we cannot sit down and pretend that there is a totally cordial relationship between the president and his vice now.
What more with her removal as Goodwill Ambassador for Safe Motherhood. It partly substantiates the assumption that she might just be a victim of the 'popularizing of another' theory. So, if Joyce Banda appears to be systematically missing on the list of potential DPP candidates for 2014 - where, in fact, other top members appear to be missing, too - then we may be forgiven for concluding that the only one who is being 'popularized' most is the one who is present on the list. And, here is where the name of Peter Mutharika stands out.
And recently, delivering a lecture on Human Rights in the Great Hall at Chancellor College, Peter said something that implied he is sure he is going to run for presidency come 2014 - or was it just aimed at testing the waters, so that he should be aware whether or not he may be the right candidate?
“Peter explicitly said that he has big dreams for Malawi which he wants to be fulfilled ten years from now. Of course, any other well-wishing Malawians, especially one with some political power, can have dreams for this country, but then he went further to point out that Barak Obama would not have become president in the absence of the support which he received from university students. This is where we may conclude that he wants to stand as a presidential candidate. And the likely party for him is DPP,” notes James Munyapa, a third year student at the college.
Perhaps, it is just a hasty conclusion to point out that Peter mutharika's 'popularizing' has an underlying motive. Maybe, there is nothing behind it other than that it is emanating from the point that he is a very hectic minister who always wants to transform the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs from its dormant state to one full of activity.
But, then, can we convincingly say that he is the only hectic minister in the whole administration who is hard working? Are most of the things that he does more important than those that other ministers do, that he alone should be frequently given public media coverage when other ministers remain sidelines somewhere in the mist of publicity? Maybe.
And suppose he indeed becomes the next DPP presidential candidate, will all those DPP top members who struggled relentlessly with Bingu during his first tenure of office when he was faced with stiff opposition from the opposition, take it with smiling faces? Will they gladly support him? Won't they detach themselves from the party and rally together to form a new party?
And if they form a new party, will DPP's membership remain the same? Won't their admirers join them, thereby reducing the number of the ruling party's supporters? Or perhaps nothing like what has been presented here will ever happen. The writing on the wall might just have been erroneously read; perhaps Peter will never be the next DPP presidential candidate.
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