Malawi deadlocked over crucial budget bill

Malawi's parliament met for the first time in nearly three weeks on Monday but failed to reach an agreement on the country's budget as a political standoff threatened to cut off key services in the impoverished nation.

The budget debate, which should have been concluded by June 30, was indefinitely suspended last month over a dispute on the poaching of opposition members by the ruling party. The parliament has not met for weeks because of the fight.

The opposition offered on Monday to adopt a temporary three-month budget to allow for public spending while the political dispute over its members is resolved, but the government insisted it needed the $1.2 billion annual budget now.

Talks broke off and were due to start again on Tuesday.

"The government needs to start spending on essential services like procurement of drugs, which is running out in hospitals, and procurement of fertilisers," Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe told parliament.

"We don't want this parliament to approve a budget in instalments," he said.

But leader of the opposition John Tembo said the opposition was only willing to free up government spending for three months.

George Ntafu, deputy leader of the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF), said the opposition would not back down on its demand that the issue of the poaching of its members be resolved before the full annual budget is adopted.

The proposed budget allocates more resources to poor rural areas, proposes salary increases for civil servants, and higher spending on health care and food production.

Frustrations have been growing in the southern African nation of 12 million people as the standoff deepened between the opposition coalition of the UDF and the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Thousands of people have held demonstrations over delays in the budget for the country bordered by Tanzania, Zambia and Mozambique.