Malawians have expressed fear that the country is sliding toward constitutional dictatorship under President Bingu wa Mutharika majority government amidst reports that government plans to move Police Bill.(pictured: "Dictators Mutarika and Mugabe).Copying from Zimbabwes Public Order and Security Act (POSA), a piece of legislation introduced in 2002 by a ZANU(PF) dominated parliament that helped Robert Mugabe to consolidate his power, Malawi government under Police Bill proposes to regulate assemblies and demonstrations.
Mutharika government proposes in the Police bill that all unauthorised demonstrations at the State House, Parliament and the Courts will be illegal.
The legislation says demonstrators at these places should seek authority from the Head of State, the Speaker or the Head of the Judiciary Chief Justice.
However, the proposed legislation has received condemnation from rights campaigners who have dubbed it oppressive.
The rights activists have also rightly observed that the new legislation is intended to inhibit rights of association and assembly and have spoken against passing the bill.
The development follows an analysis by political commentator Emily Mkamanga in The Nation on Sunday of July 19 when she wrote about Democracy Threats.
Mkamanga wrote that Malawi as a country which claims to be democratic it was shameful and uncalled for that the public media was turned into a propaganda machine against the opposition in favours of Mutharikas re-election on May 19 elections.
If there is any good governance as the government wants people to believe such savagely acts by the public media against Malawi citizens would have been stopped immediately, Mkamanga wrote in his political analysis.
She added: Any sensible person should have known that there was no need to dehumanise fellow Malawians just for the sake of politics. Sadly the public media houses seemed to be above the law and not even the Electoral Commission had powers to stop them.
Mkamanga pointed out that without doubt it is such propaganda by the public media which brainwashed Malawians into thinking that opposition candidates had no right o participate in elections because they were aid to be senseless and had no agenda.
The political commentator urged the opposition parties to rise up from the ashes and regroup in order to save Malawis hard won democracy.
Any Malawian who participated in the struggle for democracy should look at the opposition parties unprecedented defeat [in May 19 polls] as no laughing matter. It is real threat to democracy, noted Mkamanga.
She stated that the situation is getting worse because most politicians no longer seem to have a fighting spirit which characterised previous political struggles.
Instead most people now believe in a jungle policy which says if you cannot beat them just join them. This is what triggered the exodus to the ruling DPP by several independent MPs, she wrote.
The government is geared to abuse its majority numbers in parliament to ensure new oppressive legislation passes into law.
Justice and Constitutional Affairs Ministry is being held by the Presidents brother, Pro Peter Mutharika who in the just ended sitting of parliament moved another bill which legalised girls to marry at the age of 16 with concert from parents.
The opposition have no numbers to block government dominated House from constitutional amendments.
But Mkamanga concluded in her article that the balance of political power is a must if Malawi is to achieve the much needed good governance, failing which people must brace for another dictatorship.
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