Parties in last ditch preps
Major political parties represented in the National Assembly are expected to hold their caucuses today and tomorrow in last ditch efforts to strategise on the Mid-Year Budget Review Meeting of Parliament starting today in Lilongwe.
Ideally, party caucuses are expected to be held ahead of the meeting so that they can have a common position on issues.
In an interview on Sunday, Leader of the House Richard Chimwendo Banda said the Malawi Congress Party will hold its caucus today ahead of the start of the parliamentary proceedings at 2pm.
On the other hand, Leader of Opposition in Parliament Kondwani Nankhumwa said the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will hold its caucus tomorrow to strategise on their approach to business in this meeting.
“We are having a caucus on Tuesday,” he said.
In an earlier interview Nankhumwa said he was concerned that the reduction of Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) beneficiaries this year from 3.5 million to 1.5 million could lead to another acute food shortage next year.
He said: “Parliament allocated K109 billion for the programme to cater for 3.2 million people, but all of a sudden the figure of beneficiaries has been slashed to one million.
“So, what happened to the money meant for the other left out beneficiaries? What would happen to those expected to benefit only to be deleted at the eleventh hour? Is government not deliberately creating food insecurity next year?”
Alliance for Democracy president Enoch Chihana said his party’s position is to see what concrete measures will be put in place to cure Malawi from foreign exchange shortage and persistent hunger.
“Parliament should help government to come up with a rescue plan that will address the shortage of forex both in the short and long term. Government should also focus on food production which means we need enough fertiliser this year,” he said.
Asked if this is the position of the caucus, he said the party’s two legislators do not need a caucus, but just call each other to have a common position.
Leader of UDF in the House Ned Poya also stated that their meeting will take place this morning.
But he said they expect a downward revision of the budget to match revenue.
Said Poya: “Ideally, if revenue was performing we would be asking for an increase to be in line with reality, but with shrinking revenue and increased demands, we expecta realistic budget reflecting revenue.”
People’s Party spokesperson Ackson Kalaile Banda said they are part of the governing Tonse Alliance, as such, their position is likely to be articulated through the alliance.
The Mid-Year Budget Review Meeting has come at a time the national budget is derailed with widening deficit amid low revenue collection. The budget implementation has also been complicated by the implementation of a 44 percent devaluation of the kwacha on Thursday which has triggered reciprocal increases in prices of fuel and other goods and services.
Parliament will meet for the Mid-Year Budget Review from today to December 8 2023.
