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.
Unfortunately, because many Malawian politicians have different conceptions of political representation they end up diverting the representation of the people of their constituencies to the representation of their political parties in parliament. In such a political mess, the future of Malawi seems dim because these kinds of parliamentarians’ actions in parliamentary sessions lead to deadlock and failure. They have no political vision or agenda and they don’t analyse the issues that impact the people of their constituencies and nation at large. They don’t care whether this will have a negative impact on their people. The Malawians who know little about politics are misled and start supporting such parliamentarians without bothering about whether they will be dangerous to the peace, unity, security and development of Malawi.
Something I would wish Malawians to understand is that parliament consists of politicians from different political parties who are brought together under one united roof for national interests. They are meant to represent people from different localities nationwide for the equal benefit of all citizens, regardless of their different cultural and political opinions. Therefore, to turn the national parliament into a place where the interests of political parties dominate will turn the Malawians’ parliamentary house into a house of division.
All political parties, especially the ruling party, have a wider agenda, which is to remain in power forever, without changes. The ruling party is always ready to use whatever resources they have to intimidate, restrict and defeat the opposition. Likewise, the opposition parties are always roaring here and there, fighting to emerge into power, and are ready to use whatever abilities they have to demolish the ruling party of the Government of the Republic. They will sometimes refuse to approve of a budget required by the Government for some projects, even those that will benefit the nation. This is done purposely so that the Ruling party will fail to do tangible development in the country. This, the opposition will take as an excuse to blame the Ruling Party for failing to develop the country, and will inspire the citizens to reject a government which is not development-oriented etc.
Once such a battle for power begins between the rival parties in Parliament, the nation begins to experience political crisis. Ordinary citizens at the grassroots levels become the causalities because they will never have access to social services and development at large, even if the country has the necessary resources and abilities. Further more, such political crises would lead Malawi, like other African countries, into civil war.
Malawians must avoid and say a big no to any issues which will disturb their national peace, unity, security and development. They should not give their support to those politicians who will mislead them. Malawians will soon be in a transitional period, choosing the kind of national political leadership they want and those who will represent them in Parliament. They should base their choice, not on the political party but on the individuals’ moral attributes and on their abilities to serve and save Malawi and to bring development to every party of this country.
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