Talking Blues: Chakwera plus Chilima minus egos and greed equals….?

First, let’s commend ourselves for resisting the strong temptation to comment on the proceedings of the ongoing case in the Constitutional Court where Malawi Congress Party (MCP)’s Lazarus Chakwera and United Transformation Movement (UTM)’s Saulos Chilima are forcefully challenging the results of the May 21 elections in which the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) announced Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate, Peter Mutharika, as winner.

MCP’s Chakwera (l) and UTM’s Chilima

Having said that, no law prohibitsdiscourses focussing on life after a case has run its full course.

Only one of twopossible outcomes is expected from the case. The Judgeswill eitherrulethat despite everything, MEC was right and indeed Peter Mutharika was the legitimate winneror annul the results.

Whichever way, life will have to continue.

In the event that – despite everything – the Court upholds MEC’s determination; Chakwera’s work will be cut out for him: his task will be leaving the MCP strong, stable and ready to elect its flag bearer for 2024.

Being the gentleman he is, he is expected not to tamper with the MCP constitution which accords its president only two shots at the State Presidency. For the record, he wasted his first shot in 2014 andnear-messedup his second in May 2019.

Should the Court uphold MEC’sdetermination, we will have seen the last of his face on presidential ballot paperas MCP’s official flag bearer.

Chilima’s fortunes are different.

First of all, this was his first shot. Secondly, even if it weren’t, UTM as a brand is intricately interwoven with the persona of Chilima and it is difficult to imagine, under any circumstances, UTM under anyone else. Thirdly, UTM’s constitution is not that clear on matters of succession. Hence,anything is possible.

That said, it is in the event that the results are annulled that I want us to dwell on.

In that scenario, the major parties i.e. DPP, MCP and UTM will go back to the drawing boards and prepare for the mother of all reruns.

DPP, always able to gobble upwhole parties from head to toe as the United Democratic Front (UDF) has come to realise, will againdangle all sorts of goodies to the smaller and often inconsequential parties.

These parties, oblivious of death-bed ridden UDF’s experience, will throw their weight, whatever it counts for, behind DPP. Of course after that, no one will ever hear of them again. Of their leaders, we will learnthrough Social Media that they have gone east, to China or some place, as a ‘visiting scholar’ – whatever that means.

If MCP and UTM hope to prevent a drubbing at DPP’s hands, they will have to pair up.

Unlike in the run-up to the May 2019 elections, they will have to heed advice, eat humble pie and collaborate if only to prove Justice Ansah wrong.

Contesting separately means splitting the vote again and gifting DPP a minority which nonetheless is big enough to see the DPP flag bearer win.MCP and UTM successfully gave DPP this advantage in May 2019; if they do it twice, it will be insanity in its most unmitigated form.

Now to the conundrum:

  • How many UTM transformers will rally behind Chilima should he want to partner with MCP?
  • How many of Chakwera’s hangers-on will put a brave face on, admit they misled Chakwera and fall in line to embrace UTM transformers?

If at this point your head is bamboozled, grab a panadol because we haven’t evenstarted; all this is preamble.

The deal breaker, as everyone knows, is who will be the first and second principal? i.e. if MCP and UTM pair up, who will be the ‘junior’ running mate?

Although the spectacle of Chakwera and Chilima sharing jokes at the court is now common, the moment this question is popped to them, those smiles will varnish faster than light and egos will swell and flysky-high like hydrogen balloons.

When pondering thisquestion, Chilima will have it easier. Given leeway by UTM convention to pick a running mate, he chose Michael Usi. Now, unless I have been reading Usi wrong all along, Usi wouldn’t mind Chakwera and Chilima or Chilima and Chakwera partnering.

But, can the same be said of Chakwera’s May 2019 partner, Sidik Mia?

Let me rephrase this.

Will Mia, knowing as he does that should a rerun come by it will be Chakwera’s last shot, allow Chakwera to partner Chilima without a fight? Will he admit that his ‘Lower Shire gianthood’ is a fallacy?

Granted, the May 2019 elections may have been compromised.However, were Mia truly a ‘Lower Shire giant’ and not a ‘Cheshire cat’ as ridiculedby Mutharika; shouldn’t he have had in place – in his stronghold – mechanism to counter rigging?

The point is: MCP has been claiming since time immemorial that its votes are stolen. Hence, it is fair to expect that Mia would have, at a minimum, ensured that votes from the Lower Shire are delivered intact.

He failed.

This raises questions as to whether Mia’s supremacy wasn’t in fact oversold to the MCP faithful.Numbers, as they say, don’t lie.

Luckily for us Blues’ Orators, we don’t have to sweat out the answers to these questions.

Assuming a rerun comes into play, thesequestions plus many more, will be for Chakwera to find appropriate answers for or lose again and retire.

In Chakwera’s shoes, whilst chitchatting with Chilima on the court premises, I would be wondering why I am contesting the results of an election which had I teamed up with thechapsitting next to me, I wouldn’t have been hanging around courts,praying for justice.

Look at this: going by MEC’s own disputed data, Mutharika got 38% of the votes. By deduction, Chakwera plus Chilima got62%, a majority decimated by egos and greed.

Last shot: should fate give Chakwera and Chilima a second chance, won’t egos and greed undermine them again?

All up to Chakwera and Chilima.

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Ecclessia
Ecclessia
4 years ago

Munasowatu pakatipa, akupatsani ndalama mwati muwoneke tsopano……that’s why you are the “blue Orators”

Lady K
Lady K
4 years ago
Reply to  Ecclessia

asee kaya ndiwa blue kaya cadet walembazi ndi zoona

Ndendeuli
Ndendeuli
4 years ago

The writer concedes that DPP won

The Patriot
The Patriot
4 years ago

I stopped sometimes back contemplating a rerun. The evidence is not pointing to that. Give me a platform and I will give you a perfect ex ante analysis. Brutal it might be to the opposition, it shall be better to manage their expectation.

I remain a Patriot

Angoni apaphata
Angoni apaphata
4 years ago

A rerun will not mean changing the landscape. It means repeat. So the same contestants repeat the process. That is what a rerun is. That is why chakwera can represent the mcp because it is the same 2019 election. Don’t mislead people.

kaka
kaka
4 years ago

A million dollar Question.What happen to wrong doers in this nullification case? are they going to be arrested ?? what about the candidate who rigged a though he will be disqualified. ?? help me please.

njonjo njo
njonjo njo
4 years ago
Reply to  kaka

stop dreaming my friend,there was nothing like rigging and also stop dreaming about rerun lets focus on development and 2024 wooo

Pulezident
Pulezident
4 years ago

If I were Saulosi I would vie for runninmate but at the same time join MCP to guarantee my future as President. Anything short of joining would not guarantee his future as president after Chakwera. The other advice to Saulosi is that he should not believe the 1 million votes as most were given to him for free as a rigging strategy by MEC.

Precious Tamani
Precious Tamani
4 years ago
Reply to  Pulezident

You are right big that was just to blind him. And honestly there is hope that he scored less than 1,000,000 votes. But the figure was part of rigging.

njonjo njo
njonjo njo
4 years ago

blind followers kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkiest

Malawi wa lero
4 years ago
Reply to  njonjo njo

mwene wakhungu ndinuyo, kodi mukakamba za mcp ali mu dpp wo anachokera kuti pliz fufuzani kaye musanalembe apa. kodi mzimu wa chasowa, Njaunju, ma alubino onse aja sukuyankhula? nanga osadziwika amenene inu ndi ine sitikuwadziwa ndi angati? palibe kudzibakira apa tiyeni tivomereze kuti dziko lathu Chauta alowererepo. mzimu wake ndiwomwe uja wa mcp ukungopitirira. kaya kukhala rerun kapena ayi koma chilipo apa inuyo ngati mumakonda Malawi tiyeni timufunse otilenga kuti asinthe mchitidwe wa ulamuliro wa dziko lathu. kudzibakira sikungasinthe dzinthu no matter what. kondani dzikolanu ndi mtima wonse.

kanchenga
kanchenga
4 years ago

Really is that the best you can do. You make too many wrong assumptions without considering that if their is a re run it means mec and dpp messed up. But why did they mess up. The other assumptions you missed is what effect will declaring dpp and mec as thieves will be on the electorate vote blindly. For some of us you fail to understand the changing dynamics of our people’s mind set. What do you really understand about people perception of Chilima and or the Chakwera. Don’t talk as if you are writing from a foreign country.

Jenala
Jenala
4 years ago
Reply to  kanchenga

Nothing foreign here my friend, in the event of a re- run, candidates that stood on May 21, will have to stand again and contest. If its a question of, Who Messed up the election, then its MEC not DPP. DPP is just the same as MCP, UTM , UDF etc etc all are political parties.

Mwananyanian
4 years ago
Reply to  kanchenga

Ma’apyiya ali pa Kabula pompa; sali kunja ayi.
Akuti “forced retirement”? Big mistake to have joined Joisi Banda’s band of pilferers.

Test
Test
4 years ago
Reply to  kanchenga

Achimwene vote ili mmidzi. Everything we may want unfortunatel depends on the illiterate masses

Speaker Woyee
Speaker Woyee
4 years ago

What the writer has assumed is that during a rerun, APM will still be president. During a re-run the speaker of parliament will be acting president because APM’s term expired on May 21. When that happens, I am sorry to DPP.

Central
Central
4 years ago

This is waste of space and time…………………!! why bank on stolen and cooked MEC [38%] election outcome …..? Awansooooooooooooooooo!! On the other hand, 62% belongs to all other parties less DPP and not MCP and UTM as per your poor analysis and superficial judgement……………………..!! If 62% belonged to MCP and UTM, where is UDF’s, Mbakuwaku, Umodzi’s etc? Cadet wa mano kunsi ngati ambuye acheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Kaitano
Kaitano
4 years ago

Kikkkkkkk I suspected kupeza manyi ya zolemba pano chifukwa zimene walemba Ayuba, last week zionetsa kuti zavuta kumpanda ndiye poti ifeso atione, a hahahahahahahhhaa ndiye manyi eni eni, sorry no time for this! Try again later.

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