Malawi opposition MPs boycott opening Of Parliamen

Blantyre, Malawi - Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika was Monday forced to address a half-empty National Assembly as opposition members of parliament boycotted his State-of- the-Nation address.

There has been bad blood between Mutharika's minority government and opposition parties, who dominate the 193- member Parliament.

The opposition wanted Speaker Louis Chimango to expel over 70 MPs who defected from opposition parties to join President Mutharika's newly-found Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

The 73-year-old economist-turned-politician dumped the former ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) to found the DPP after falling out with former president Bakili Muluzi who ironically anointed him as his successor.

Mutharika recently charged that only government financial bills and the 2008/09 national budget will be discussed during the current session of Parliament.

But the opposition insisted the Speaker should first expel the MPs who 'crossed the floor' before any business was transacted.

Muluzi, who is also the UDF national chairman, instructed his MPs not to transact any other business before the issue of the 'nomadic' MPs was discussed.

"Both the budget and section 65 (of the constitution that restricts movement of MPs in Parliament) are constitutional issues," he said, adding "we don't want to assist Bingu in raping the constitution."

John Tembo, Leader of opposition in Parliament, also said the Speaker should be allowed to expel the DPP MPs before any business was transacted.

"This President is busy disregarding the constitution, which he swore to uphold," said Tembo who is president of the country's main opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP).

But Mutharika suspected the opposition has ulterior motives by prioritising the expulsion from Parliament of MPs who supported his government.

"What they want to do is after expelling my MPs I should not have support in Parliament so that they can move a motion to impeach me," he said.

According to Malawi laws under section 65 of the constitution, MPs who defect from their parties must be expelled from Parliament to allow by-elections in their constituencies.

But Mutharika argued it does not make sense to hold by- elections in over 70 constituencies when the next elections are just a year away.

Malawi is scheduled to go to the polls on 19 May, 2009.

Mutharika founded the DPP in February 2005, only nine months after winning the 2004 election on a UDF ticket, making Malawi have a 'ruling party' that contested no election.

The party only has five MPs it got through by-elections but over 70 MPs defected to opposition parties.

The issue nearly derailed the 2007/2008 budget as opposition MPs wanted the DPP MPs expelled.

Instead of having a national budget by 30 June, since the Malawi financial year begins on 1 July, the Parliament only approved the budget in September after mass protests from university students, chiefs and civil society organisations.

But soon after the passing of the budget, President Mutharika prorogued (curtailed) the sitting of Parliament despite his officials agreeing with opposition leaders that soon after the budget, the issue of MPs 'crossing the floor' will be tackled.

This time around, it seems civil society leaders and students may not back government.

"We held demonstrations in support of the budget not because section 65 was not important, no; but we wanted Parliament to prioritise the budget and tackle the political issues later but the president - by proroguing Parliament - abused our trust," said Undule Mwakasungura, Executive Director of the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), a Lilongwe-based NGO.

"Section 65 is part of the constitution and must be respected," Mwakasungura said.