In a scathing indictment, the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) has castigated the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) as a mere spectator in the realm of governance, lambasting its conspicuous absence in providing the essential checks and balances on the Tonse Alliance government throughout 2023. Since relinquishing power in 2020, the DPP has, regrettably, become a courtroom regular, entangled in a web of leadership disputes. The Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Kondwani Nankhumwa, finds himself embroiled in a bitter power struggle with his superior, Peter Mutharika, an acrimonious spectacle that overshadows the party’s fundamental duty of holding the government accountable and furnishing viable alternatives to the nation’s challenges.
In a year-end proclamation that cuts to the core, HRDC asserts that the internal tumult within the DPP has become a debilitating distraction for its leaders, diverting their focus away from the crucial task of scrutinizing government actions. The DPP, it seems, has surrendered its role as a robust opposition force, metamorphosing into a fractured entity entangled in internal strife, further contributing to the erosion of its efficacy on the political stage.
Reads in part the statement: “The opposition’s role as a check and balance on the government has been severely compromised by internal conflicts within the DPP.
“Instead of focusing on their critical oversight role, leaders in the opposition have been entangled in internal disputes, wasting valuable time on court battles and press briefings that castigate one another.”
Signed by its chairperson Gift Trapence, HRDC the infighting in DPP led to a noticeable decline in the opposition’s performance, hindering its effectiveness in holding the Tonse Alliance government accountable.
“Malawians entrusted the DPP with the main opposition position through the 2020 elections, expecting it to fulfil its role of providing effective checks and balances. Unfortunately, this expectation remains largely unmet.
“HRDC calls on the opposition parties, particularly the DPP, to rise above personal egos inorder to resolve internal disputes. Malawians deserve an effective opposition that can fulfil its mandated oversight role and contribute constructively to the governance of the nation,” the statement further reads.
Governance expert George Chaima yesterday described the opposition as a bicycle with a broken chain, stressing the continued fights will not help matters, especially within the DPP.
“The year is coming to the end but on a bad note. The opposition has miserably failed. This failure contributes to the overall failure of the government because it cannot perform well if the opposition is a failure.
“The opposition that we have is more of DPP rather than the entire opposition of all parties. The DPP has been a big time failure right from the beginning, we have not seen that aggression and agility that the opposition requires. It is the weakest opposition, so far,” he said.
