As the year is going to an end, a political analyst in the country has advised politicians to put the needs of Malawians first in 2017.
In an interview with Malawi24, one of the political analysts in the country Laudon Malingamoyo Phiri said legislators should put their party interests aside and be concerned with challenges Malawians are facing.
“Politicians who are in political parties should put the interests of their constituencies first rather than their parties’,” said Phiri.
On the country’s political developments in 2016, the analyst said much has not been done even though Malawi is one of the most politically stable countries in the world.
He also said that there has been minor issues in some parties as there has not been intraparty democracy.The analyst added that in 2016 the country has seen the firing of some prominent party members like Felix Jumbe in Malawi Congress Party and some members of People’s Party.
“There have been minor issues in some parties which is a proof that we still have no real intraparty democracy in our country and we have seen the firing of some prominent party members such as Felix Jumbe which is not good for the party and the followers,” he said.
Phiri further said that the country has also seen the exodus of some party members joining the ruling party which is a norm of political prostitution in Malawi.
On governance, the analyst said the country has a long way to go in terms of good governance and the country’s constitution need to be revisited as he said the Executive branch has too much power than the judiciary and the legislative.
He suggested that the constitution should give equal powers to all three branches in order for democracy to win over malpractices of the Executive.
Phiri advised legislators to embrace the differences of their adherents knowing that the beauty of democracy is in our differences.
He however said there have been some good developments such as the passing of Access to Information bill which is good for democracy.
