GOVERNMENT CONDEMNS PAC

Government condemns PAC over hostile, derogatory approach Government, through the Ministry of Information, Communications Technology and Civic Education, has condemned Public Affairs Committee's (PAC) disrespectful, hostile and confrontational tone, saying Malawians need dialogue, not hostility and confrontation. Patricia Kaliati, Minister of Information, Communications Technology and Civic Education, said this in response to PAC's derogatory remarks against President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika. Kaliati urged PAC leadership to accord the Presidency the due respect the office deserves, noting that phrases, insinuations and innuendoes the quasi religious body is using do not meet Malawians' expectations. She further said they have no wish to disrespect the spirit of democratic engagement and dialogue between government and PAC by going into verbal bartering with each other in the media. "Contrary to the dismissive and hostile stance taken by PAC’s Spokesperson, we want to respect PAC as partner in constructive dialogue towards finding solutions to Malawi’s longstanding challenges. PAC must respect the spirit of dialogue. We also have no wish to descend into disputing in the media the statements whose truth is visibly missing from Father Mulomole’s opinion of the meeting and preparations for it," said Kaliati in a ststement issued on Thursday. PAC, according to her, went to meet the President half-prepared and sent its 26-paged document to the President just a day before the meeting. "The President’s office has strict requirements and standards of submission because it is the busiest office constantly demanded by national and urgent priorities of public affairs in this country. "However, the President was patient enough not to throw out the document because he wanted to hear PAC," emphasized Kaliati, adding that PAC lost an opportunity to engage the President meaningfully by coming to the meeting not so well prepared. She therefore said PAC should not engage defensive mechanisms to bury their own inefficiencies and failure to technically handle the President’s enquiries. "Malawians do not want President who accepts anything and everything without critical question just to prove that he is a listening President. On the contrary, questioning and probing is actually a sign of active listening. "We also do not need to be courted into more mundane lies stated by PAC. Everyone remembers that it is PAC that sought an audience with the President. Therefore, it is disrespectful and bankrupt of truth for them to tell Malawians that it is the President who sought HELP from PAC," explained Kaliati. She appealed to PAC to desist from spreading insults in the media because such actions are not in the interest of public affairs and that PAC should accept that some proposals they presented to the President do not make sense and it is their responsibility to explain them. "We want to agree with all Malawians who have rightly observed that we have a listening and democratic President. We also want to thank the political and economic analysts who agree giving subjective ultimatums to an elected President on complex matters of the state is to miss a point. "It takes a listening President to give PAC an audience for over two hours when most appointments with the Head of State run for 30 minutes. This shows the President has been serious in listening to civic voices. Within these precious two hours of being audience, the PAC Chairperson spoke before the President for 40 minutes while the President listened without interrupting. "It is a further sign of listening that the President agreed with their leader that we must proceed to a more detailed dialogue and assessment of how Government is responding to some issues at a technical level. We really wonder therefore what PAC means when they insinuate that the President is not listening," said Kaliati.