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Parliament in bad start

  • Adjourns prematurely due to lack of business

It was a low key start for the Mid-Year Budget Review Meeting of Parliament on Tuesday as Leader of the House Kondwani Nankhumwa sought an early adjournment.

Nankhumwa, who is also Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, asked First Deputy Speaker Esther Mcheka Chilenje for an adjournment until 2pm on Wednesday for lack of business despite the Order Paper, an outline of business to be transacted in the National Assembly, suggesting otherwise.

MPs leave Parliament following the adjournment

The Order Paper showed Ministerial Statement on Agriculture Production Estimates for the 2018/19 growing season as one of the agenda items. However, Nankhumwa said the statement could not be presented because Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Joseph Mwanamvekha was not in the House.

Said Nankhumwa: “I would like to ask the Speaker to adjourn the House until tomorrow because government doesn’t have business to proceed with after the end of question time.

Nankhumwa: Government doesn’t have business

“I know there is supposed to be a ministerial statement to be delivered in the afternoon, but that will not happen because the minister responsible is in Mzimba attending other equally important issues.”

In an interview after the adjournment, Nankhumwa insisted that government did not have business to discuss as there was none. He said the Bills on the Order Paper were not yet ready either.

He said people should expect this week to be slow as there is not much business to discuss.

Lowe: They needed to be prepared

Nankhumwa said the current meeting of Parliament was called following pressure from several quarters, including the opposition; hence, the lack of business. He said government exhausted most of its business during the November meeting.

He said: “It is clear that we are meeting for budget review. If you followed the announcements, Mid-Year Budget Review Statement will be presented on Friday.”

But new leader of the opposition in Parliament Lobin Lowe expressed surprise with the early adjournment. He said it was embarrassing that on the first day things did not move.

He said: “We are surprised with what has happened, but as opposition we don’t have much to say. It was government [business] day. They needed to be prepared.”

Parliament is meeting for the Mid-Year Budget Review whose statement Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Goodall Gondwe is scheduled to present this Friday.

By order of the Constitution in Section 67 (1), Parliament will stand dissolved on March 20 as this is its fifth year after its election.

Besides the lack of preparedness on the part of government, absenteeism refused to die in the National Assembly as scores of empty seats were seen in the chamber. The Nation’s head count on Tuesday morning indicated that only 70 out of the 188 MPs in the 193-seat Parliament were present. (See list of the MPs who resigned on Parliament Watch on Page 4).

On absenteeism, Nankhumwa said it would continue as some legislators are busy campaigning.

But University of Malawi’s Chancellor College political scientist Ernest Thindwa noted that the reasons for early adjournment were not serious. He advised legislators to prudently use public funds.

He said: “I find it costly to have Parliament not sit just because one minister is not around. That explanation is lame and taking people for granted.

“We want to see a situation where there is maximised time for national issues, not this lukewarm attention. This is a day wasted and taxpayers money too.”

Absenteeism has been the order of the day during Parliament meetings.

But according to a Political Economy Analysis (PEA) of the Malawi Parliament: Determinants of Performance and Prospects for Improved Effectiveness Report by Henry Chingaipe, Austin Zvoma and Roosevelt Gondwe unless there is a change in how MPs attach their levels of importance to their core functions things will remain the same.

The report identifies determinants of performance across four functional areas, namely oversight, legislative, representative and administrative support and provides an analysis of parliamentary dynamics on the gender agenda.  n

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