Entertainer Tay Grin will represent Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Lilongwe City Centre constituency in next year`s tripartite elections.
Born, Limbani Kalilani, he secured the ticket to contest for the parliamentary seat without competition following the withdrawal of his challenger.
Kalilani was left with one contender, Alfred Gangata, after the incumbent lawmaker for the constituency David Bisnowaty long withdrew from the race. It was reported in the local media that DPP endorsed the musician to represent the constituency forcing Bisnowaty to pull out.
According to Grin as posted on his Facebook page, Gangata supported his candidature giving him an automatic win before the elections were held on Wednesday.
Tay Grin who is also the son of Dr Jean Kalilani, a DPP official and parliamentarian for Dowa Central Constituency, saluted his opponent for the honour. He called upon DPP members to work together for the betterment of their party.
It can be concluded that Bisnowaty and Gangata did well by opting not to contest, in the view of reports that the party favoured Kalilani for the constituency.
The two risked wasting their resources and energy on elections whose outcome was predetermined.
In the end, the primaries were going to be characterized by controversy coupled with court cases as a result of dissatisfaction. If we are still to go by what was reported in the country`s mainstream media, DPP has failed to follow the principles of democracy.
Of course the winner has a name in music circles especially among the youths which, others may argue, put him in an advantaged position. However, politics is a different ball game in which popularity is not entirely a deciding factor.
