VZCZCXRO9540
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHLG #0385/01 1901239
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 091239Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY LILONGWE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0628
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0379
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LILONGWE 000385 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM MI
SUBJECT: MALAWI POLITICAL PARTIES LAG IN DEMOCRATIC 
DEVELOPMENT 
 
REF: A. LILONGWE 283 
     ¶B. LILONGWE 285 
     ¶C. LILONGWE 358 
     ¶D. LILONGWE 44 
 
LILONGWE 00000385  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Malawi's recent elections were hailed by 
both international and domestic observers as credible and 
peaceful.  Voters broke from historic regional voting 
patterns to give a landslide victory to President Mutharika's 
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).  Malawian political 
parties, already struggling to track party membership, raise 
and effectively use funds, create issues-based platforms, and 
deliver constituent services, were caught unawares of the 
shifts in voter behavior.  Major opposition parties such as 
the United Democratic Front (UDF) are critically reexamining 
their processes and letting new leaders emerge, while the 
Malawi Congress Party (MCP) has devolved into a leadership 
struggle over the need for greater transparency and internal 
democracy.  Even the victorious DPP is not immune, as the 
party attempts to deal with returning party loyalists who 
were forced to contest as independents due to flawed 
primaries. With all parties trying to adapt to the new 
dynamics of the paradigm-shifting Qection, now is an ideal 
time for a focused assistance program on political party 
development.  Comment: The move away from "big man," 
regionally-based politics has begun.  We should facilitate 
parties' efforts to become more issues-based, transparent in 
their operations, and responsive to constituent demands.  End 
Summary. 
 
Election Alters Political Realities 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) International observers and domestic monitors hailed 
Malawi's recent elections as peaceful and credible.  While 
observers noted shortcomings regarding abuse of State media 
and use of government funds for campaigning, the election 
still marked a significant step forward in Malawi's 
democratic development.  The results, a landslide victory for 
President Mutharika and a super-majority in Parliament for 
his DPP party, shocked analysts (ref A, B) and led civil 
society groups to voice concerns about the future viability 
of opposition political parties. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The UDF, one of the two major opposition parties, 
has already begun to turn to a new generation of leaders who 
are reexamining the party's long-term plans.  The other major 
opposition party, the MCP, is in the middle of an election 
defeat-spawned power struggle between party president John 
Tembo and party spokesman Ishmael Chafukira after Chafukira 
called on the MCP to become transparent and promote internal 
democracy to survive (ref C).  Even the victorious DPP has 
not been immune to party problems.  Many of its flawed 
primary losers who won victory in the general elections as 
independents have attempted to reclaim their places in the 
party, causing internal debate about the need for improved 
intra-party democracy.  President Mutharika has publicly 
stated the DPP must become more transparent and improve its 
primary system before the next election. 
 
Many Long-standing Party Issues 
------------------------------ 
 
¶4. (SBU) For all parties, the major issues are similar and 
long-standing.  Due to lingering suspicion from the days of 
former dictator Kamuzu Banda, none of the parties have a 
system in place to register members or track membership. 
Without membership rolls, internal administrative processes 
from local committee formation to national party conventions, 
become dispute-filled affairs.  Top leaders dictate who is a 
"true" party member and who is masquerading.  As seen in last 
elections' primaries, the important process of selecting 
candidates further exaggerates these weaknesses leading to 
internal rigging and corruption and imposed candidates (ref 
D).  These problems can be even greater for smaller parties 
without long histories to help verify true supporters. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Fundraising is another hurdle for parties. 
Traditionally, parliamentary candidates have self-funded 
their campaigns, although while in power, the DPP and UDF 
both liberally used state resources to help candidates. 
Presidential candidates have used the bulk of party resources 
on their own campaigns, which require comparatively greater 
resources.  The lack of party financial support isolates 
parliamentary candidates and reduces loyalty. With no 
mechanism to raise even small contributions from party 
supporters, most parties seek out large domestic donors or 
try to raise funds from the Malawi Diaspora.  These 
 
LILONGWE 00000385  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
contributions are privately made and parties are not required 
to document their sources or amounts of funds nor 
transparently account for party expenditures.  This 
environment leads to frequent disputes and distrust. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Until the recent elections, most party leaders 
believed they had an inherent regional support base that 
could not be swayed.  These beliefs, supported by historic 
trends, led to neopatrimonial parties with "big man" leaders. 
 Leaders promoted obedience within parties, limiting internal 
democratic mechanisms.  In this environment, many dissenters 
created new splinter parties, slowly eroding support.  To 
rise within a party, it also became more important to please 
the leader than to provide service to constituents. 
Moreover, this brand of personality-driven politics 
suffocated organic attempts to form ideological differences 
that could differentiate parties. 
 
An Ideal Time to Help 
--------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Comment: The recent elections forced Malawi's 
political parties to rethink their strategies, methods, and 
reasons for existence.  All of the major parties, with the 
possible exception of John Tembo, are actively seeking to 
improve party mechanisms to promote internal democracy and 
constituent services.  Even within Tembo's MCP own faction, 
the need for change is clear (septel).  The election's 
outcome is also slowly revealing Malawi's next generation of 
party leaders, a generation that did not spend its formative 
years as part of the government of a one-party state.  Since 
an earlier USAID-supported political party strengthening 
program ended in the early part of this decade, there has 
been little done in the sector.  Currently, only the 
Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy has a program, 
and it concentrates on inter-party dialogue between parties 
represented in Parliament.  The current political environment 
in Malawi offers a rare moment when most, if not all, major 
parties would be receptive to institutionalizing democratic 
reforms.  DFID is interested in possible cooperation in the 
sector on a new long-range program.  USG support would allow 
us to leverage the inherent strength of organizations like 
the National Democratic Institute and the International 
Republican Institute to entrench democratic ideals at the 
party level that will ultimately carryover and strengthen 
Malawi's national institutions. 
BODDE