Malawi govt. to deploy army at parliament

The Malawi government has said it will live up to threats made by the country's President Bingu Wa Mutharika to deploy armed Malawi Army soldiers to close down the National Assembly on Friday 15 August 2008, if the 2008-2009 National Budget will not be passed by that time.

After adjourning the August House for six weeks, Mutharika ordered deliberations on the National Budget to resume last week and asked the legislators to pass the budget within ten days, or brace themselves for undisclosed consequences.

Last Friday, during a political rally in the Southern part of the country, Mutharika said in his capacity as commander in Chief of the Armed forces in Malawi would deploy soldiers to close down the National Assembly on Friday this week.

Addressing the press on Wednesday, his Chief Political Advisor, Hetherwick Ntaba warned the opposition against taking the President's threats as mere jokes.

The National Assembly is housed at the official residence of the President. He has all the powers to chase away anybody from his premises. He has also powers to mobilize the army to chase even legislators from his land. He meant what he said, said Ntaba.

Ntaba said, there is nothing like dictatorship in the President's threats.

It would be ridiculous to describe the threats as dictatorial. This is what you would expect from any landlord. The legislators are now a bore to anybody. The president's patience is now completely worn out. He can no longer withstand it said, the ruling Democratic Party (DPP) Secretary General.

He then appealed to the National Assembly to save themselves from the embarrassment of being chased away from the August House by force.

The situation would be quite embarrassing. Our legislators should save themselves from this situation, by passing the budget by Friday, he said.

Meanwhile, leader of the country's opposition in the National Assembly, John Tembo, has described the threats as undemocratic, maintaining that they will not cow the opposition legislators.
We will pass the budget on our own without anybody threatening us. We have a responsibility to the Nation,” said Tembo.

President Mutharika's government is in the minority, with the opposition joint forces of former ruling party, United Democratic Front (UDF) and Malawi Congress Party (MCP) calling the shots in the House.

After President Mutharika ditched the UDF, a party, which sponsored his candidature in the 2004 General Elections and formed his own DPP, relationship between government and the opposition in Malawi, has been chaotic, throwing the country into a total political impasse that has reduced Malawians into mere spectators.

Through his party, the President has been shopping legislators from the opposition parties by rewarding them with ministerial positions in his government. The opposition has been insisting on implementing Section 65 of the country's constitution, which empowers Speaker of the National Assembly to declare vacant all seats of parliamentarians who defected to the DPP.

Mutharika on the other hand has always maintained the legislators who follow him to the DPP, were simply excising their freedom of association.