Malawi Parliament Agrees to Pass Budget Subject to `Resolution'

Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe tables a ``resolution'' explaining government expenditure over the last four months.

It would be illegal to pass the 229.2 billion Malawian kwacha ($1.6 billion) budget before the resolution, Friday Jumbe, a spokesman for the opposition United Democratic Front, said in Lilongwe today.

``While there's general agreement now that the budget should be passed, we can't do so until the finance minister has tabled a financial resolution authorizing government's expenditure over the last four months,'' Jumbe said. The budget should be passed by the end of the week, he added.

The UDF, the Alliance for Democracy and the Malawi Congress Party have delayed passing the budget every year since 2004. The opposition parties say President Bingu wa Mutharika's ruling Democratic Progressive Party holds as many as 70 illegal seats in parliament after lawmakers changed allegiances to join his DPP.

Wa Mutharika won Malawi's presidency on a UDF ticket before quitting the party to form his own.