Malawi High Court injunction delays ouster of defecting parliamentarians

BLANTYRE, Malawi: Malawi lawmakers who switched parties after their election received a reprieve Thursday when a judge suspended moves to oust them from parliament, further deepening a constitutional crisis facing the southern African country.

The High Court in the capital Lilongwe granted an injunction delaying an earlier Supreme Court ruling which upheld a constitutional provision restricting political party defections, a decision affecting scores of President Bingu wa Mutharika's supporters and threatening to paralyze the government.

"Justice Elton Singini has granted the injunction which effectively means the Speaker cannot move on the said MPs," said Assistant High Court Registrar Thomson Ligowe.

About 70 of parliament's 193 members, including Cabinet ministers, all of whom left the United Democratic Front to join Mutharika's Democratic Progressive Party, faced losing their seats.

Mutharika was elected as a member of the United Democratic Front in 2004, but quit the party last year to found the Democratic Progressive Party, accusing his former allies of blocking his clampdown on corruption, and survived a subsequent attempt to impeach him.

The UDF, which maintained control of parliament despite the defections, has for the past year pushed for DPP members to be expelled.

The injunction, sought by Parliamentarian Yunus Mussa, who is among those at risk of losing his seat, allows for discussions between both parties over the formation of a unity government, which began following the June 15 Supreme Court ruling, to continue.

Speaker Louis Chimango was expected to move to expel the targeted members when parliament reconvenes Friday. Now Chimango will announce whether he will challenge the injunction.

If the parties reach a compromise in their negotiations Chimango can move to have the ruling to oust the floor-crossing parliamentarians invalidated. Should the expulsions go ahead, elections would be held within six months to fill the vacant seats.

Mutharika's party has been thrown into a state of disarray by the crisis and the president has a number of options, including dissolving Parliament and holding fresh elections or cobbling together a government of national unity with the opposition.

"The government is in a crisis; it can crumble because of this," said Blessings Chinsinga, a political scientist with the University of Malawi. "The president has to solve this politically by, among other options, forming a government of national unity with the opposition."

However, the ruling party has said that if its members are forced to give up their seats, they will win them back in by-elections.

There are concerns that the crisis will delay the passing of the new 2007/2008 national budget Friday, further threatening government operations.