Backgrounder: Malawi's opposition Mgwirizano (Unity) Coalition

Millions of Malawians willgo to the polls on May 20 for the third multiparty general elections to choose their president, while outgoing President Bakili Muluzi will step down according to the constitution.

Five candidates are contesting the presidential election and over 1,250 candidates are vying for seats in the 193-member parliament.

When seven small, virtually unknown political parties came together to sign a memorandum of understanding to form what is called the Mgwirizano (Unity) Coalition on Jan. 29, few people gave it a chance to make any impact on Malawi's volatile politicalscene, but today everyone is talking about it and the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) sees the coalition as its major challenge in the forthcoming general elections.

The Mgwirizano Coalition is the brainchild of the Christian clergy, which mediated between the talks aimed at convincing the opposition parties to form one formidable front to challenge the UDF in the elections.

Led by Gwanda Chakuamba, president of newly formed Republican Party (RP) now seems set to upset the tables in the forthcoming general election because it enjoys the blessing of the church while the ruling party has been castigated as having plundered theeconomy of the country during its 10 years in power, making Malawians poorer than they were before the UDF came to power in 1994.

Other political parties in the coalition are Malawi Forum for Unity and Development (Mafunde), People's Progressive Movement (PPM), Movement for Genuine Democratic Change (Mgode), People's Transformation Party (Petra), National Unity Party (NUP) and Malawi Democratic Party (MDP).

Except for Chakuamba's RP, all other parties in the coalition are led by Northerners.

Major opposition parties such as the former ruling Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) pulled out of the coalition a day before the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MOU), arguing that they were not satisfied with certain clauses like the criteria for choosing the candidate to lead the coalition.

The clause empowered parties to elect the president in a boardroom, which the two parties were not in agreement with. They instead wanted to involve the grassroots masses to choose the coalition leader based on one's popularity.

The MCP and NDA's pulling out was at first a shock to all thosewho wanted a strong opposition to face the UDF in the polls, but later people translated the move by the two parties as being greedy and power hungry.

Later the church - especially the Church of Central African Presbyterian (CCAP), the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church -intensified its campaign for the Mgwirizano, openly urging the faithful not to vote for the UDF and its presidential candidate Bingu wa Mutharika, whom they accuse of having been imposed on theelectorate by outgoing President Bakili Muluzi.

With the church rallying all its support to the Mgwirizano, Chakuamba and his running mate Aleke Banda of PPM, are poised to form the next government after the general polls. Their vision is to set an example of a good administration, saying the UDF has failed to govern. They cite rampant corruption, which has drained the country of billions of kwacha (1 US dollar equals 110 kwacha),closure of companies and falling standards in the education sectoras some of the indicators.

But not all are well in the Mgwirizano Coalition, especially when it comes to fielding of parliamentary candidates in some constituencies. For example, Aleke Banda (leader of PPM) will be competing against Kandodo Banda, president of Mgode in Nkhata Baydistrict. Neither of them is willing to give way.

This lack of tolerance may have far-reaching consequences even after the polling day.

Source: Xinhua