Some political commentators have described the presidential debate scheduled for later tonight as meaningless, arguing that it will have little impact without the participation of the country’s two main political parties, the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Speaking to MBC Digital, political commentator Lyson Sibande said the parties expected to take part in the debate do not have a larger following, making the event largely insignificant in shaping voter opinion.
He further backed MCP’s decision not to attend the debate, claiming the organisers had failed to handle the process fairly.
He argued that President Lazarus Chakwera, as the Head of State, could not be expected to participate in a debate without the presence of the main opposition leader.
Sibande hinted that Mutharika’s absence could be ‘due to his state of health’.
“Mutharika is not attending because he is not mentally and physically fit for such engagements. He cannot stand for long periods as he is frail, he has hearing difficulties which have been publicly observed on several occasions, and he has also shown signs of memory lapses in recent times,” Sibande explained.
Another commentator, Watson Shawa, said he agrees with MCP’s decision not to attend the debate, arguing that the organisers did not set proper guidelines such as involving the party in some serious matters and that there was also a lack of transparency.
He further said that the debate has no real impact at this point because the parties taking part cannot win and do not have many followers, so MCP made the right decision by not attending.
The parties that were invited to the debate are the ruling MCP, UTM, PP, DPP, and UDF. Smaller parties that do not even have a single councillor such as Odya Zake Alibe Mlandu, were not invited to the debate.
