Parliament ‘terminated’

President Lazarus Chakwera has invoked his constitutional powers by proroguing Parliament after the august House adjourned sine die on December 16 2022 amid chaotic scenes.

The decision signals the end of the 49th Session of Parliament the President opened on September 4 2020 and in effect means all its outstanding business, including Bills, motions and parliamentary questions have fallen off.

This is the second time in democratic Malawi a President has used this constitutional power to prorogue Parliament after former president Bingu wa Mutharika, now deceased, did the same on September 14 2007.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Speaker of Parliament Catherine Gotani Hara said the President prorogued the 49th Session of Parliament on December 18 2022, two days after its adjournment.

“Parliament of Malawi wishes to inform all Cabinet ministers, deputy ministers, members of Parliament and the general public that pursuant to Section 59 (1) of the Constitution, His Excellency the President Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera has prorogued the 49th Session of Parliament with effect from 18th December, 2022,” she said in the statement.

The said Section 59(1)(b) states: “The President may, in consultation with Speaker of the National Assembly, prorogue the National Assembly.”

However, while the section says there shall be held at least two meetings of the National Assembly in each session, it does not stipulate the duration of a session.

Reads Section 59 (4): “A session shall be of such duration as the President, in consultation with the Speaker of National Assembly, shall determine.”

But the Speaker said following the prorogation, the President will officially open the 50th Session of Parliament at the Parliament Building in Lilongwe on Friday, February 17 2023 at 10am.

“The prorogation of the 49th Session of Parliament implies that all outstanding business as at 16th December 2022 has lapsed and can only be resuscitated through a motion moved by the Leader of the House,” she said.

Leader of the House Richard Chimwendo Banda, Minister of Justice Titus Mvalo, government Chief Whip Khumbize Chiponda and her deputy Jacob Hara were all not available yesterday to explain what compelled the President to prorogue Parliament.

However, in a separate interview, Leader of Opposition in Parliament Kondwani Nankhumwa said there was nothing irregular with the President’s decision as he has acted within his constitutional mandate.

“What it means is that all the outstanding business that were still on the Order Paper after Parliament rose sine die on December 16th have lapsed and this does not in any way affect the decisions already made before the stipulated date,” he said.

Nankhumwa also said there was no harm in government implementing the decisions that Parliament made before the prorogation.

“Next we shall await government and private members to introduce new business. But also government has the right to resuscitate any business that was on the Order Paper before prorogation,” he said.

A legislator who spoke on condition of anonymity said Presidents usually prorogue Parliament to curtail business they are not comfortable with.

In 2007, Bingu prorogued the 39th Session of Parliament soon after adjournment after the then Speaker Louis Chimango could not provide a definite answer to a backbencher’s question on what was being done to the Section 65 petitions since all injunctions had been withdrawn.

This incensed the government side and in the process threw the august House into turmoil that forced the Speaker to temporarily adjourn the sitting to pave way for the Business Committee to meet.

While Parliament was adjourned, Bingu sent a memorandum to the Speaker’s office with instructions to announce the prolongation of the National Assembly.

The 49th Session of Parliament was adjourned sine die amid disorderly scenes with the opposition trying to hijack an agenda on a day Standing Orders dictate government is supposed to drive business in the House.

The House erupted into turmoil after the government side wanted proceedings to be adjourned sine die while opposition legislators wanted business to proceed.

The bone of contention was the shooting down of Bill 41 of 2022 Press Trust Reconstruction Act (Amendment) following its tabling by Chimwendo Banda as first time agenda.

In an interview with our sister newspaper Weekend Nation after the chaos, Chimwendo Banda regretted the manner business wound-up, saying politics took centre-stage.

The House rose without leaders of the House and the opposition giving their closing statements as is the tradition.