By Cathy Maulidi:
As Malawians wait for the opening of Parliament where members are supposed to debate the budget for the 2024-25 financial year, anarchy is looming for this meeting.
At the heart of that disorder is the role of Leader of Opposition.
We can report that Attorney General Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda has advised the Speaker Catherine Gotani Hara to not recognize DPP’s chosen Leader of Opposition, George Chaponda.
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Instead, the Speaker should continue recognising with Kondwani Nankhumwa, who the DPP fired from the party last month, as Leader of Opposition.
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And the DPP has reacted angrily to this action, vowing if the Speaker proceeds as advised by the Attorney General, wheels could come off at Parliament.
Background
Two weeks ago, the DPP [Democratic Progressive Party] appointed Chaponda as Leader of Opposition after Nankhumwa’s expulsion from the party.
However, Nankhumwa through his lawyer Wapona Kita, challenged his replacement.
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They argue that there is a court injunction that is stopping Chaponda’s appointment.
The injunction in question was obtained in 2022 by 22 DPP members of Parliament including Werani Chilenga, Mark Botomani and Nicholas Dausi.
The latter were also fired together with Nankhumwa.
The MPs claimed that they were denied the right to vote for Leader of Opposition as they were “deliberately” not invited to the meeting where Chaponda’s name came up.
Now the AG has also told the Speaker that Nankhumwa remains Leader of Opposition.
“The AG has advised that there is an existing court order against Chaponda replacing Nankhumwa as Leader of Opposition so until the order is set aside the Speaker would be in contempt of court if she disobeys the court order,” a source told Malawi News.
Kita also said Chaponda cannot be Leader of Opposition with the 2022 injunction still in place.
“That injunction that was obtained by DPP MPs and Nankhumwa in 2022 stopping Chaponda from replacing Nankhumwa was never lifted,” he said.
Standing Orders
Although the AG’s advice points to Nankhumwa still holding to the Leader of Opposition position until the said injunction is lifted, the Parliamentary Standing Orders suggest that the Leader of Opposition should come from a political party.
Standing order 35 subsection (1) reads: “The Leader of Opposition shall be elected by a party not in government.”
It further reads that the said opposition party should poses greatest numerical strength in Parliament at any point in time.
Section 36 of the standing orders state that the Leader of Opposition may only be removed by the party that elected him or her.
This means that following the expulsion of Nankhumwa from the DPP on December 20, 2023, Nankhumwa doesn’t belong to any political party.
And he may be recognized as an independent member of Parliament.
Further, according to the standing orders, an independent member cannot hold a Leader of Opposition position.
Parliament sticks with Nankhumwa
Parliamentary business committee meeting is expected to be held on February 7.
At the meeting, the house’s leadership discusses upcoming business and other issues.
We can report that Parliament has invited Nankhumwa to the meeting as Leader of Opposition.
The information we have indicates that Nankhumwa received the invitation letter yesterday.
“He has been invited to the business committee meeting as Leader of Opposition,” said a source.
‘We removed Nankhumwa’
In reaction, DPP spokesperson Shadric Namalomba has said the party removed Nankhumwa as Leader of Opposition.
“If their plan is to still have him as opposition leader then akakhale ku bench yake not the opposition DPP’s bench. We will not allow that and akapitiliza chibwana chimenechi parliament iyiyi siyichitika,” Namalomba said.
How did Nankhumwa become Leader of Opposition?
Nankhumwa became Leader of Opposition in rather contentious manner, against standard parliamentary procedures.
He gave the details of his controversial appointment himself in an interview with Wonder Msiska on Times TV on May 27 2022.
In that interview, Nankhumwa said his appointment came from the Speaker Gotani Hara.
He said as Parliament started business (after the elections in 2019), DPP had not yet appointed Leader of Opposition.
“So the Speaker said she would make a temporary arrangement so that proceeding of the house should continue since Parliament cannot operate without leadership of the other [opposition] side,” he said.
According to Nankhumwa, when Parliament convened, Gotani Hara named him as Leader of Opposition and that she said she would communicate to the house in case of any changes.
When Msiska asked him whether that was not a unilateral decision on the part of the Speaker in the appointment of Leader of Opposition, Nankhumwa hesitated and then said:
“She did it as a precautionary measure so that Parliament business continues. And she said should there be any changes, she would communicate.”
Quizzed further whether that is the way a Leader of Opposition is appointed, whether the Speaker has the powers to make that appointment, Nankhumwa said:
“That I don’t know. But as I am saying, it just happened as a precautionary measure so that Parliament business should continue.”
He added: “And you will remember that in her announcement, she also announced Deputy Leader of Opposition, yet there is no such a role as Deputy Leader of Opposition.
“It was just a makeshift thing awaiting for the DPP to appoint Leader of Opposition because the law says the opposition political party that has more numbers of MPs [than other opposition parties in the house] is that the one that should provide Leader of Opposition.”
According to Nankhumwa, in the afternoon on the same day of his appointment, rumours circulated on social media and among opposition MPs that the DPP had finally appointed Chaponda as Leader of Opposition.
“So I wondered what role I was going to play. And I was told that I was appointed to be chief whip. So I had been demoted from leader [of opposition] to chief whip,” he said.
According to Nankhumwa, as some opposition MPs had started protesting the changes, he called DPP president Peter Mutharika to confirm the rumours.
“He told me it is true. So I told him I was not going to take the chief whip role. I said I would let the Leader of Opposition role to the one appointed but that I would step aside from being chief whip.”
He said he decided not to take the chief whip position because “it is a tough job but also because for him, “it would have been a demotion”.
Before the elections, Nankhumwa was Leader of the House as the DPP was in power
