Newly-elected legislators are set to undergo orientation from next week and take their oaths, but the race for the Speakership roles is gaining momentum.
The Speakership comprises the Speaker, First Deputy Speaker and Second Deputy Speaker who are elected after members of Parliament (MPs) take their oaths of office and before the opening of the first gathering of the new cohort.
The Nation established yesterday that some MPs from the governing Democratic Progressive Par ty (DPP) and UTM Par t y are positioning themselves for the gavel while the immediate-past governing Malawi Congress Party (MCP) is still strategising.
Elections for the Speakership roles are determined by numbers and traditionally parties bank on partnerships to secure the posts.
There are 224 MPs in the 229-member Par l iament a s elections in five constituencies are yet to be conducted due to varyin reasons. From the results so far, DPP has secured 78 seats, but falls short of a dominant majority.
Trailing DPP are independents with 70 seats followed by MCP with 53 members while UTM Party has eight, United Democratic Front (UDF) four and People’s Party (PP) and Alliance for Democracy (Aford) three each. On the other hand, Freedom Party, National Democratic Party and People’s Development Party (PDP) secured one seat each.
In an inter v iew yesterday, DPP director of elections Jean Mathanga, who won the Chiradzulu Midima Constituency, said several legislators from the party have shown interest to vie for the position of Speaker of Parliament.
However, she dec lined to disclose names of the MPs aspiring for the position, which was held by MCP’s Catherine Gotani Hara in the previous Parliament.
Said Mathanga: “The names have not yet been communicated to us as members of Parliament, but there are others among us that have shown interest and it will not be fair for me to communicate to the public the names.”
A DPP ins i d e r a l so confided that the party will lobby the independents bloc as well as parties such as UTM and Aford for support.
UTM Par ty publ i c i ty secretary Felix Njawala, who won the Mwanza Central parliamentary race, said they will support the candidature of the party vice-president for Northern Region Catherine Mzumara who has expressed interest to vie for the position of Deputy Speaker.
He said Mzumara, who won the Mzimba North seat, communicated her interest to the party.
Said Njawala: “So far, Honourable Dr. Mzumara is the only UTM member who has shown interest for the position of Deputy Speaker of Parliament. It is her individual decision and the party will just mobilise her support.”
Mzumara earlier this year earned a PhD in theoretical economics with a focus on national development after successfully defending her thesis titled ‘Political competition and economic progress: A comprehensive a n a l y s i s o f Ma l awi ’s development path” at Peking University in China.
On the other hand, MCP secretary general Richard Chimwendo Banda yesterday said the party was yet to decide its position.
“We have not yet held any caucus and we have not come up with anything of that nature. For that reason, it will be like pre-empting whatever will come from the caucus. We will comment when our caucus has been held,” he said in a telephone interview.
Section 53(1) of the Constitution stipulates that the Speaker of the National Assembly shall be elected by majority vote of the chamber in which s/he sits at the first sitting after any dissolution of that chamber.
Further, the members shall also elect any stipulated number of persons to the positions of deputy speakers. Currently, Parliament has two, namely First Deputy Speaker and Second Deputy Speaker.
Malawi Electoral Commission c o n f i rmed r e s u l t s i n 2 2 4 constituencies out of 229, with five constituencies—Lilongwe City Bwaila, Lilongwe City Mtandire- Mt s i r iza, Dedza Mtakataka , Nkhotakota Liwaladzi and Blantyre West—remaining vacant due to nullifications, postponements or irregularities.
