Confusion over President’s address

Debate on President Peter Mutharika’s opening address to the 46th session of Parliament continued on Wednesday with confusion among members of Parliament (MPs) on whether the speech was a State of the Nation Address (Sona).

Opposition MPs have faulted Mutharika’s 24-minute address delivered on Friday while the government side insists the speech was not comprehensive because it was not a Sona.

On Wednesday, deputy leader of People’s Party (PP) in Parliament Ralph Jooma chided Mutharika on the matter, saying despite protests from the government side, Parliament’s order papers continue to indicate that the President delivered a Sona in the House.

He said: “Whether this is a State of The Nation Address or just a statement, since yesterday [Tuesday] we have been told this is not a State of the Nation Address, yet on the order paper it has been indicating that as MPs we are responding to the President’s State of the Nation Address. Nobody has disputed that. The issue is that we have had a State of the Nation Address which is lacking in detail.”

Nkhata Bay Central MP Ralph Mhone (PP), a lawyer, also joined the debate, saying the President was supposed to deliver a Sona.

“When the President comes to the budget session, he comes as an attendee and we can question him as stipulated by law, and the other one is when he comes in to open a session of Parliament where he presides over the House and we cannot ask him questions,” he said.

But Speaker of Parliament Richard Msowoya intervened, saying while the matter was debatable, it was distracting the attention of the House from the actual responses to the speech.

Mulanje South MP Bon Kalindo (Democraitc Progressive Party-DPP), who is also a comedian, brought laughter to the House when he suggested that the President’s speech was short because he was being considerate to the MPs as the House is “too hot”.

However, Dedza East MP Juliana Lunguzi faulted Kalindo for joking over a serious matter, arguing his remarks were an insult to ordinary Malawians struggling in the face of economic hardships. n