Bishops Warn Political Crisis a Threat to National Stability

The Catholic bishops of Malawi are concerned that the political crisis pitting the ruling party against the opposition could seriously destabilize the country.

The bishops' warning came as Parliament was set to open today against the backdrop of a Supreme Court ruling that empowered House Speaker, Louis Chimango, to expel defecting lawmakers.

The decision, if implemented, would drastically reduce the strength of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which has received 60 defectors to increase its tally to 80. The opposition dominates the House, with about 110 seats.

In a statement, the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) acknowledged the Supreme Court ruling as a "positive development", saying it promoted and consolidated the respect for the rule of law and the spirit of constitutionalism that are among the key pillars of good governance.

However, they said uncertainty, fear of the future and tension had gripped the country in the aftermath of the ruling.

"Issues like calling for by-elections, the resignation of the President, impeachment of the President and his vice, the impeachment of the Speaker of Parliament, if implemented, will wipe out all the gains that have been realized through our maturing democracy."

The bishops said heeding these calls would "derail all arms of government from their development agenda and adversely affect the gains achieved by the debt cancellation and the economy of our country." Last year, Malawi had its foreign debt cancelled by multilateral donors.

The bishops warned that in the event of by-elections and impeachments, the Legislature and the Executive would "shift their focus from economic and developmental policies to matters of politicking and survival to the detriment of the poor masses.

The Supreme Court ruling is the climax of a tense standoff between President Mutharika and the opposition since he came to power three years ago. It all began when Mutharika left the United Democratic Front (UDF), on whose ticket he was elected in 2004, to form his own party, the DPP.

The UDF hit back with an impeachment charge, accusing Mutharika of using USD300,000 of public money to launch his party. Mutharika survived impeachment after the Constitutional Court blocked the move.

"Realizing that when elephants fight, it is the grass on the ground that suffers, we want to reiterate that the tension and the uncertainty arising from this scenario would lead to the suffering of all Malawians who remain the primary right holders for all development and economic policies as in any democratic country," the bishops said.

Encouraging the spirit of dialogue instead of confrontation, the bishops wondered whether it made any sense for the country to use funds saved through debt cancellation, the impeachment processes or by-elections at the expense of pro-poor expenditure areas like education, health, food security and HIV/AIDS.

They called for "sobriety" in the current debate and inclusion of all citizens of Malawi in finding the way forward.