Our News Analyst WYCLIFFE NJIRAGOMA engages Mzimba South lawmaker Emmanuel Chambulanyina Jere (pictured right) on the future of the CDF Bill snubbed by President Peter Mutharika.
Q: Your Bill passed unanimously in the House amid public resistance. How do you explain that disconnect between Parliament and the citizenry?
A: Which citizens? The 22 137 citizens who voted for me are happy with what I do and no one has come to me in my constituency to say what I am doing in Parliament is not what they want. In addition, we are trustees and trustees exercise mature judgement and that was our judgement.
Q: The President has refused to sign the Bill into law and ordered the Ministry of Justice to come up with robust guidelines. Why persist with it?
A: That‘s what I believe is the best for the people I represent. The President is exercising his constitutional duty, so too is the National Assembly. Remember, laws are passed by Parliament and it includes the Head of the State.
Q: You say Section 73 allows you to re-table the Bill after 21 days. How do you distinguish constitutional procedure from the spirit of the Constitution?
A: We are just doing our job as lawmakers. Re-tabling the Bill in the House reflects the essence of the constitutional spirit of that provision.
Q: Isn‘t the constitutional amendment designed to reverse a binding High Court judgement instead of respecting the rule of law?
A: Courts are there to interpret the law and they do a good job. Legislators are there to make the law and we are doing our job.
Q: Afrobarometer polls show that many Malawians distrust how MPs handle CDF. Why should citizens accept the expanded MP role under your Bill?
A: It is interesting to note that the same Afrobarometer data show that bringing development to the constituency is one of the most important roles of MPs. The MPs bring development at the constituency level through CDF. Afrobarometer data has to be interpreted in context.
Q: With the governing Democratic Progressive Party‘s leader resistant to the Bill, do you see it getting the majority vote if re-tabled in Parliament?
A: The Constitution requires just a majority in passing a retabled Bill. Remember the amendment is not being championed by a specific party, it is being championed by a private member.
Q: If re-tabling fails, would you abandon constitutional amendment in favour of ordinary legislation or administrative reform?
A: If the amendment is turned down by MPs on the chamber floor, it means Malawians through their MPs have rejected it and I will leave it at that level.
Q: Some analysts feel that this Bill carries the risk of distancing Parliament from the people it claims to represent, don‘t you think so?
A: I don‘t think the assertions are correct. We are in the field—our constituencies—and nobody has approached me with the above assertion.
