Speaker to rule on new Sec 65 submissions
Malawi’s Speaker of Parliament Henry Chimunthu Banda says he will rule on fresh submissions from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on MPs deemed to have crossed the floor to the ruling People’s Party (PP).
The Speaker made the announcement Thursday afternoon following his decision in the morning to throw out a petition on Section 65 which was seeking to have at least 40 MPs thrown out the House for crossing the floor.
The decision instantly attracted drama and anger from the DPP bench, leading to Mzimba Hora MP, Reverend Christopher Ngwira, being thrown out of the chamber for calling the ruling ‘empty’.
The sending out of Ngwira led to the DPP camp walking out of the House in anger and protest.
When the House resumed sitting in the afternoon, Chimunthu Banda made fresh announcement that he had received another communication from the DPP with fresh evidence on the matter.
DPP spokesperson Nicholas Dausi, in an interview after the new submissions, said the party decided to write the Speaker again to remind him that he already has evidence based on the letters the concerned MPs wrote to his office when they were joining the PP.
“We have written him reminding him that maybe he has forgotten that on May 24, he read out the names of those who had written him.
“Secondly, we have also told him that even the party has letters from people who left the party,” he said.
Dausi said the DPP was surprised that the Speaker had to wait for seven days notice period to the concerned MPs to elapse before asking the petitioner to bring more evidence.
“He could have done so within the seven days,” he added.
With the new submissions, the party will have to wait with its court action until after a fresh ruling from the Speaker Friday morning.
Asked why the DPP is pursuing the Section 65 issue now when the party survived on the Speaker not revoking the Section, Dausi said it does not matter what DPP did during its time. He said the party is fighting for respect of the Constitution.
