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As I took a moment to observe the conceptions of many Malawians about refugees/ asylum seekers, I felt it was a curse for a person to be a refugee in another country- especially in a country where the citizens have a narrow sense of humanitarian crises and human rights. To many citizens of countries hosting refugees, of which Malawi is one, refugees are foreigners who are poor, cadgers, and people without land. Some go beyond by believing that refugees are only economic immigrants, uneducated and without moral values and legal rights.
People forget that refugees are very important instruments for socio-economic development in their hosting countries, and are people who sometimes bring great revolutions of civilization etc, to many indigenous people of their hosting countries, particularly in the areas where they are encamped. Refugees are like any other humans. They may be from different social backgrounds like their hosts, and some might have better professional qualifications, skills and experience than their hosts. If they are set free to exercise these professional qualifications, skills and experience, it will be of great technical and economic benefit to the hosting country. More so, refugees will become role models to their hosts.
I am not just advocating for refugees, but am also saying this because of my observations of some serious political challenges in this country, which I think have to do with an ideology of political representation that is ‘miles away from the truck‘. I want to talk about this very issue with my hosts, with the aim of helping us all to understand what is meant by political representation.
Politics has been defined by political scientists as the art of governing society. To me, the method of governance chosen by a human society reflects the core value/ heart of that society, and is what makes that society exist. Any society which is not politically well-organized is what I believe to be a dead living society. Such societies are left behind in terms of development or social services, become marginalized, and remain ‘primitive’ (so-called) in an era of civilization. In terms of globalization, they are referred to as “poor or undeveloped societies”. Social justice and socioeconomic development in general become too difficult for them to achieve. In the meantime, other advanced societies or individuals in power get opportunities to misuse and manipulate them for their own societal or individual political and economic benefits.
To prevent such issues from existing in our world, the political Intel lectures came up with the ideology that “every society nationwide is expected not only to participate, but to be involved in their political system.” This inspires the idea of the legislative wing of government or the ‘parliament’, which is formulated by its political representatives- known to us as ‘ Members of Parliament’- representing people from different localities nationwide. Their aims are to check and monitor the work of the executive, to balance their powers, and to formulate policies and legislation so as to safeguard the popular will and interests of people from all corners of the country.
When I observed the political system in Malawi, I felt that political representation in Malawi was fairly exercised in comparison to that in many other African countries, and this should be the first pride of all Malawians for their national political leadership. However, the big challenge remains the confusion about the actual ideology of political representation by both politicians and ordinary Malawians: do parliamentarians represent those who elected elected them, or do they represent their individual political parties? This question arose in my mind because of some of the parliamentarians who are focusing more on representing their individual political parties’ interests in parliament than the problems facing their constituencies and the interests of those who elected them.
To answer this, first, I would like to flash back to the aims of political representation:
- To represent the popular will, choice and interests of a group of people from a particular locality in the decision making process in a Legislative House.
- To ensure that the government of the people is run freely and fairly for the benefit of all citizens.
- To prevent the individual people in power, especially the executives, from imposing their personal political, and economical interests on the nation and from abusing the state.
This means that, a member of parliament should be elected, not on the basis of his/ her political party, but rather on:
- His/ her potential ability to effectively and efficiently represent the people of his/ her locality.
- His/ her abilities to bring social justice/ social services and development in general from the state to his/her constituency, and then nationwide.
Likewise, the voters are not to vote for a candidate just because he/ she belongs to their political party but because they trust and have good faith that he/ she will never let the constituency down once in parliament.
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Writer Profile
sudan
I am a South Sudanese, Lawyer by profession and living in South Africa. I am single man and I love writing factual stories and sharing my opinions with the world. One thing I have learnt from this world is that unless we are taught, we cannot know anything at all.
That is not all that I want to tell about myself. I would also like to say that communication is the key to the transformation and development of any society. Where there is no comunication, there is no development.
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