Eight out of nine members of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) central committee have risen up and rejected the decision to appoint new members of the party’s national governing council (NGC) without being consulted.

The only member of the council who has not rejected the decision, is the party’s president, former president Peter Mutharika who also happens to have signed the appointments.

The eight argue that the decision by the party’s administrative secretary, Francis Mphepo, to write certain individuals that they had been appointed into the party’s NGC was done without the central committee’s involvement.

In the spirit of true democracy, we look at this protest by the DPP’s bigwigs against their own party and their leader as a true definition of intra-party democracy. We commend the members that have challenged the decision because bad decisions ought to be rejected at all levels and all times.

The decision to unilaterally make decisions has the hallmarks of authoritarianism, a phenomenon that is being rejected across the globe. The reason we encourage standing up against bad decisions is because such tendencies have a way of being carried over when such personalities attain the highest positions, the presidency.

We also ask the DPP to put its house in order. With all the internal fights going on in the party, the main opposition, which is essentially a government in waiting, does not spur confidence and trust that it can rule the country without chaos and disregard of the tenets of democracy.

As one of the major opposition parties in the country, we hope the DPP knows the responsibilities the party has, that of offering checks and balances on the government’s excesses.

All in all, we encourage other parties to always stand up whenever procedures have been flouted and stop nodding to every decision just because it has been made by the top leadership.

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