Malawi President suspends parliamentary budget session

Blantyre, Malawi - Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika Friday ordered the immediate closure of the current budget session of the Parliament for what he called opposition members of parliament's irresponsible behaviour.

"I hereby order the immediate closure of parliament because the opposition is acting irresponsibly," said a fuming Mutharika at the Kamuzu International Airport in the capital, Lilongwe, before leaving for South Africa where he will attend the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) heads of state and government summit in Johannesburg at the weekend.

The Malawi financial year is supposed to end 30 June with the new one beginning 1 July but President Mutharika suspended the original budget session 20 June when it was clear the budget was not going to pass.

He recalled Parliament a fortnight ago but warned that he would suspend it again if the budget was not passed Friday.

But the opposition scoffed at the threat, saying it was only the Speaker's office that could determine how long a parliamentary session would run.

However, President Mutharika stuck to his guns, ordering the army to seal the New state House - where Parliament meets - from Friday.

"I will only recall Parliament if the opposition assures me that they will pass the budget without conditions and within a specific period," he said.

The opposition has since called the president order "traits of dictatorship".

United Democratic Front (UDF) Leader in Parliament George Nga Mtafu said Mutharika was interfering with Parliament.

"The president is acting like a headmaster trying to dictate everything; these are traits of a dictator," he said, adding "This is an irrational decision which will affect the running of his own government."

Main opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) parliamentary spokesman Ishamel Chaf ukira said the opposition was on course to pass the budget.

"Nobody said they will reject the budget," he said. "We only demanded that laws be respected."

Effects of the delayed budget have already started being felt.

Some operations in government have stalled while donors have threatened they will not release their budgetary support in the absence of the budget.

The much-touted farm-input subsidy programme, which was credited for Malawi's surplus production of the staple food - maize - during the last growing season, will be affected since government cannot find money to procure fertilizer.

There has been bad blood between the Mutharika administration and the opposition-dominated Parliament since the president dumped the former ruling UDF party which ironically ushered him into power after a bitter fall-out with his predecessor, former President Bakili Muluzi.

He founded his own Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), accusing his former party of resisting his tough anti-corruption posture.

Since then his minority government has had problems pushing its agenda in Parliament. The 193-member opposition-dominated Parliament has put its foot down that it cannot discuss and pass the budget unless the Speaker of Parliament expels from the House all MPs who quit opposition parties to join President Mutharika's new ly-founded DPP.