Political scientists warn MCP’s early endorsement of Chakwera for 2030 could freeze out rival talent

Malawi’s Political Science Association has warned that grassroots endorsements pushing Lazarus Chakwera to stand again as the Malawi Congress Party’s presidential candidate in 2030 risk sidelining other capable figures within the party, potentially undermining internal democracy before the race has even properly begun.

The Association’s spokesperson, Mavuto Bamusi, issued the caution after MCP’s District Chairperson for Kasungu East, Chisomo Mbembeza, publicly endorsed Chakwera as the party’s 2030 presidential candidate during a rally in Kasungu.

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While acknowledging that grassroots members are entitled to back whichever candidate they choose, Bamusi insisted that MCP must resist the temptation to anoint a preferred candidate too early, and should instead throw the field open, allowing other potential leaders within the party the opportunity to come forward and contest freely at the party’s national convention.

Bamusi warned that the practice of early endorsements — effectively crowning a preferred candidate ahead of formal internal elections — is common across political parties, but cautioned that it consistently undermines the principles of internal democracy, discouraging genuine competition and denying members a real choice.

The warning comes just a day after Mbembeza told Chakwera directly, during a brief rally in Mtunthama, Kasungu, that local party structures remained firmly behind him ahead of 2030 — the latest in a string of grassroots endorsements that have followed the former president on his recent tour of the region.

The developments highlight a growing tension within MCP between enthusiastic grassroots support for Chakwera’s continued leadership and concerns from political observers that such momentum, if left unchecked, could stifle any genuine internal contest for the party’s top job — a debate likely to intensify as the party edges closer to its next elective convention.