Flipside -DPP must check violence in its ranks
by EDWARD CHISAMBO - Saturday, November 15, 2008 - 11:20:19

There is something grossly wrong about how political parties have chosen to go about primary elections and the Democratic Progressive Party is the chief culprit. The primaries are just intra-party contests but the conduct of some DPP supporters has left some observers wondering as to whether the country will ever be able to wean itself out of violence and hold clean elections.

Just last Monday, in acts that reminded people of the UDF young democrats during the third term campaign by Bakili Muluzi, some DPP supporters grabbed cameras from a Blantyre Newspapers photographer possibly to prevent him from putting on record ugly protests against results.
This, though, is just the tip of an iceberg as other media reports indicate that Deputy Home Affairs minister and member of Parliament for Thyolo South West Roy Commsy had to run away to protect dear life after supporters of other contestants ganged up and stoned him at Molele.
There are other sporadic reports of tension mainly between powerful names and debutants from all over the country that have forced DPP to postpone some primaries. Some lucky party National Governing Council members have sailed through without opposition raising fears that the bigwigs might have successfully intimidated their challengers from taking part.
All these stories could be viewed as small incidents but what cannot be disputed is that there will be a hotly contested election next year and violence should not be allowed to breed among voters. The DPP top brass and supporters will obviously dismiss these as issues concocted by individuals who do not wish the party well but what is certain is that their supporters are becoming violent by the day and that type of behaviour should not be allowed to grow like it did when the United Democratic Front was in power. At that time party functionaries would beat people they believed were against the UDF in front of the police and the officers would deliberately look away feigning ignorance.
It was only this year that the UDF accepted the violence that the young democrats unleashed on innocent souls and rechristened the group as Youth for Development but the damage had already been done.
The DPP bosses, President Bingu wa Mutharika included, should not allow this country to be dragged back to the era of violence by a few of their selfish and misguided supporters.
The press or media, whatever word one chooses to describe those who disseminate news has before cried foul about DPP supporters’ character at the President’s press conferences.

A lady reporter was heckled at Kamuzu International Airport when Mutharika held a press briefing on his arrival from the United Nations summit sometime this year. Those anti press sentiments have taken root and gone a step further now the supporters seize media equipment.
Lessons from history indicate that it will not be long before the supporters physically descend on an innocent news reporter. It is, therefore, up to those who wish DPP well to check this violent trend before the party joins other political movements before it as perpetrators of violence.

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