The Cabinet meeting without the First VP

Malawi has always been a country of surprises. We have had fuel disappear without vehicles moving, maize disappear without people eating it, and money disappear without anyone touching it. Now, if reports are accurate, we have discovered a new constitutional innovation: a Cabinet meeting chaired by the Second Vice-President while the First Vice-President was present at her office in the same city, but, apparently, not even invited to the Cabinet meeting.

If this is what really happened, someone deserves an award for finding a new way to interpret the Constitution. The First Vice-President reportedly learnt about the meeting the same way ordinary Malawians learn about many government decisions—after they have already happened. One would have thought that in any organisation, if the chief executive is away, the deputy naturally steps in.

That is why companies have deputy chief executives. It is why schools have deputy head teachers. Even football teams have vice-captains who take over when the captain is unavailable.

[paywall]

The irony is delicious. Why have a First Vice-President if the Second can simply leapfrog the position? It resembles a supermarket queue where someone suddenly appears at the front claiming they were there all along.

One almost feels sorry for protocol officers. Perhaps Cabinet needs a seating chart showing three things: constitutional position, actual position and position occupied today—with flow charts and a consultant to explain it all. The incident, if accurately reported, is not merely about personalities.

It is about institutions. Naturally, defenders will argue that there were perfectly valid reasons. That last possibility, however, would itself be quite an achievement.

Forgetting to invite the First Vice-President to a Cabinet meeting is like forgetting to invite the goalkeeper to a football match and then claiming that the team has found a new way to defend. If there is a perfectly reasonable explanation, government should provide it. The public is not asking for classified intelligence.

It is asking a basic question: Who was supposed to chair Cabinet, and why? Silence, after all, is fertile soil for speculation. Politics already has enough conspiracy theories without adding constitutional hide-and-seek. The episode also raises a practical question: Who actually runs Cabinet when the President is away?

[/paywall]