Now what's left in DPP's playbook?

They say in politics, an organized minority is a political majority. True. It’s one thing to be many, but it’s another thing to be organized.

A survey conducted by Afrobarometer between August 1 and 15 in 2024, found that if the September 16 General Election had been held at that time, opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) would have polled 43 percent of the vote but not enough to reach the 50+1 threshold.

This must have been good news for an opposition party clamoring for a return to government. DPP’s planners must have developed strategies for winning the election, analyze data, predict trends and identify key issues that would influence voters.

Surely, they have done all this but now the question is, are those strategies realistic to earn them victory? Oh, poor DPP!

Since the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) officially launched the election last year, the DPP has been playing politics of victimhood. It perfected the art of politics of persecution, crying foul whenever any other member gets arrested on corruption allegations.

However, judging by public opinion, the current kakistocracy-like Malawi Congress Party (MCP) led government is insanely unpopular due to, among other reasons, soaring cost of living and indecisive leadership.

This, interestingly, could have been used as cannon fodder for the DPP to massage the feverish ego of the registered buckling under the weight of an economic breakdown.  

But guess what? The DPP has been whining, discouraging voters to register, engaging in bigotry against MEC chairperson Anabel Mtalimanja and CEO Andrew Mpesi and pouring scorn on the election management devices.

These are the miscalculations they have come to haunt the DPP now, because in all these disruptive tactical maneuvers, MEC has repelled them.

And, on Friday, MEC also rejected their request to audit the election management system—potentially their last straw to stain the integrity of the election.

But these tactics were bound to flop, flatly. Look, things don’t go wrong, they start. 

Now the DPP must find another way to sustain their campaign of discrediting the electoral process. Will they take the legal route? Maybe. They must have a strong argument rather than the hot air they have been parroting lately.

Ostensibly, they will double-down on social media propaganda, simply not to lose undecided voters who buy their claim that the electoral process is allegedly laced with fraud. Whether such propaganda will keep the voters enraged against MEC is a figment of imagination.

Another tactic might be street protests using proxy civil society organizations and activists. However, the civic space has become toxic lately, such that if the DPP sends its hounds to do their work on the streets, security forces will likely crack down on them. Also, panga-wielding thugs might also come back from their closets to unleash their savagery as sanctioned by their puppeteers. 

Surely the country might be plunged into chaos. Additionally, it will be hard for MCP and DPP to conduct campaigns in areas where these two archrivals wield influence.

But in all this uncertainty, MEC holds the key to the fragile situation that lies ahead of us. The next few months before elections are likely going to be restive. MEC must rise to the occasion and preside over an election that will be free, fair and credible.

Also, political parties, especially the DPP, must acknowledge their shortcomings concerning the way they have handled the process. The leadership must hit the ground running because it’s not too late yet.

The DPP must look itself in the mirror and do something about this mess or else face the antonym of victory by an organized minority using a tyranny of small numbers.