DPP govt safe in Parliament—Chimunthu

Former Speaker of Parliament Henry Chimunthu Banda says the fact that all the three newly elected speakers are from opposition benches is no cause for worry for the governing Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) business in the National Assembly.

Speaking in an interview with The Nation, Chimunthu Banda said he did not see the Speaker and his deputies purposely frustrating government agenda in Parliament because of political affiliations.

Members of Parliament (MPs) on Monday elected Malawi Congress Party (MCP) vice-president and Karonga Nyungwe legislator Richard Msowoya as Malawi’s seventh Speaker of Parliament in 20 years.

Independent Nsanje North parliamentarian Esther Mcheka-Chilenje bounced back in the House as First Deputy Speaker while United Democratic Front (UDF) Mangochi Central legislator Clement Chiwaya was elected Second Deputy Speaker.

Chimunthu said the fact that the three speakers are from the opposition was not a “handicap” as they all have the potential to deliver the hoped-for results to every Malawian.

“To begin with, let me congratulate them for their election. I look at it as a team with potential to deliver in their respective offices because all of them have experience on the procedures of the House,” said Chimunthu who served as Speaker between 2009 and 2014.

He added: “However, being from the opposition is not a handicap because the law provides that the Speaker and Deputy Speakers could come from political parties whether the political party is in power or not, but the bottom line is that the Speakers must be impartial.”

The former Speaker said, just like opposition parties, government was a beneficiary of the services Parliament offers and the three Speakers would be expected to exercise impartiality in their transactions.

He then urged the new team to comprehensively read the Standing Orders and the Constitution of Malawi to simplify their managing of the House.