By Mercy Matonga & Taonga Sabola:
Chaos returned to Parliament Monday when Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members of Parliament (MPs) protested the continued recognition of Mulanje Central lawmaker Kondwani Nankhumwa as Leader of the Opposition.
The drama started when Speaker Catherine Gotani Hara requested a Leader of the Opposition to confirm the issues discussed at last week’s Business Committee meeting.
At that point, both Nankhumwa and Thyolo Thava MP Mary Navicha stood up to confirm the issues, a development which brought laughter on the government benches.
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Gotani Hara told the House that she had already addressed the matter of Leader of the Opposition on Friday and that the House had recognised Nankhumwa.
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This did not please DPP lawmakers, who vehemently protested the Speaker’s decision to the point that Gotani Hara was forced to suspend the House for 10 minutes for the Business Committee to meet over the chaos.
When the House resumed sitting after about an hour, harmony returned when Gotani Hara said both Nankhumwa and Navicha would respond to the State of the Nation Address (Sona) delivered by President Lazarus Chakwera last week with Nankhumwa responding as Leader of Opposition and Navicha as Leader of DPP.
But when it was time for Nankhumwa to present his response to the Sona, DPP lawmakers, led by Navicha, protested saying they were the ones to start making their contribution.
“Don’t take us for granted,” Navicha was heard shouting on top of her voice.
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The rest of the DPP lawmakers stood up to protest the Speaker’s decision, the disorder prompted Gotani Hara to order Navicha and all the MPs who disregarded her order to exit the chamber.
The MPs refused to go out, forcing Gotani Hara to prematurely adjourn the House to this morning.
Leader of the House Richard Chimwendo Banda called on DPP to put its house in order and await court direction on the matter, as “the delays are costing Malawians taxes”.
But in an interview after Parliament was adjourned, DPP Chief Whip George Chaponda said while the court order on the issue of Leader of the Opposition has to be respected, Parliament ought to take sensitivities of the party into consideration as well.
“This is the first time in my 21 years in this Parliament; I have been in this Parliament for 21 years, 13 years as a Cabinet Minister and four years as a Leader of Opposition. I have never seen a situation where somebody who has been expelled from a party is being given space.
“Why am I saying so? Because we have to take into account that DPP, according to the Standing Orders Section 35, is the party with the largest majority in Parliament,” Chaponda said.
He added that Parliament should have waited for the court to deal with issues regarding the Leader of the Opposition before recognising Nankhumwa in the role.
