Stalemate between Malawi ruler, parliament intensifies

Malawi's president has cancelled a sitting of the southern African nation's parliament, raising the stakes in a political feud that threatens the government and implementation of international donor programmes.

President Bingu wa Mutharika had vowed to prevent parliamentarians from meeting for a six-week session until they agreed not to expel 70 members of his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which is largely made up former opposition members.

The opposition United Democratic Front is angry wa Mutharika bolted its ranks after winning the 2004 election and formed the DPP. It and another opposition party want to remove the DPP MPs under a constitutional provision -- Section 65 -- that prevents floor-crossing.

If successful, they would have enough support to pass a no-confidence vote in wa Mutharika's government as well as an impeachment motion against the Malawian leader.

"The president is asking the opposition to stop the issue of section 65 and agree that parliament meets to discuss other important matters other than the expulsion of MPs," State House press officer Chikumbutso Mutumodzi said, confirming that the sitting had been cancelled.

Malawi's 193-member parliament was to consider a number of World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) programmes seen as key to the impoverished nation, which relies heavily on donor support for its public spending.

The next sitting is scheduled for June.

The parliamentarians refused last year to debate the government's $1.2 billion budget for fiscal 2007/08 until the floor-crossing dispute was resolved. Pressure from civic groups and farmers prompted a change of heart, and it was passed.

Last month the IMF said the political uncertainty could affect implementation of its programme in Malawi.

"I hope we won't have a repeat of last year because the delays last year affected implementation of the some IMF programmes, which parliament needed to approve," Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe told Reuters on Tuesday.

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Malawi keen on enhancing economic co-op with China

Malawian Commerce Minister expressed his country's willingness to enhance economic cooperation with China during an exclusive interview with Xinhua on Tuesday.

"We grow tobacco, we grow cotton ... and we need markets. With its huge population, China is the one that nobody can ignore," Commerce Minister Henry Mussa said.

Malawi cut off its 41-year diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a province of China, at the end of 2007 and established diplomatic relations with China, becoming the 170th country to establish diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China.

Mussa said that he expects tremendous Chinese investment in Malawi, and his country is set to benefit from duplicating China's economic miracle.

"China is an economic giant and we will see a big impact on the future of Malawi," the minister said.

He believed that the new partnership will "definitely" help Malawi evolve into an export economy.

President Bingu wa Mutharika announced a couple of years ago a plan to transform Malawi from an importer nation into a production and export one.

China, with its great market potential, is regarded by Malawi as a "dreamland" destination for its agricultural products.

Mussa said he is currently working on a basket of investment incentives, adding that his ministry is keen to create a favorable environment for investors.

The Malawian minister, who will soon lead a business mission to China to explore possible cooperation, said that local entrepreneurs are ready to team up with their Chinese counterparts to "touch deeper" Malawi's economic potential.

"Chinese investors are welcome to come and see the potential that we can offer and to establish joint ventures with locals," Mussa said.

"Through that, I think, we could achieve a win-win situation," the minister added.

Malawi’s President Mutharika Refuses Parliament Sitting Over Impeachment

Malawi’s President Bingu Wa Mutharika has reportedly canceled the sitting of that country’s parliament effectively heightening the brewing political tension with the opposition. Mutharika recently vowed he would prevent the sitting of parliament after accusing opposition members of a calculated plot to use its numerical advantage to impeach him. Mutharika said he would rescind his decision if the opposition in parliament desists from removing at least 70 members of parliament who left their parties to join the government. However, the opposition argues that the country’s constitution frowns on such moves, a position recently backed by a High Court ruling. Respicious Dzanjalimodzi is an opposition member of Malawi’s parliament. He tells reporter Peter Clottey from the capital, Lilongwe that the country’s constitution must be respected.

“Parliament had decided on an agenda that soon after passing the budget this is the business we would deal with. But unfortunately, on a Friday, which was the 14th of September the president decided to prorogue parliament. So we could not proceed to deal with the other business. And we felt that that was most unfortunate because on the agenda there were very important matters that parliament had to discuss, including those related to water, electricity and there was also a section of section 65, which we wanted to deal with during that particular period… there has been meetings held by the business committee of parliament, which some of us had believed that it would end up in parliament meeting, but that is not happening at all,” Dzanjalimodzi noted.

He said it was important for the country’s young democracy to be nurtured, despite the challenges it faces.

“What system do we want to develop in this country? It’s a young democracy; it is a system that must be followed, the rules and principles of democracy, rule of law must be there. That is really the issue; even section 65 is there in order to prevent disappointing the wishes of the voters because they vote you into parliament with a proper and particular identity, which must be retained throughout the tenure. If you violate that then the provision is there. Let the speaker deal with it. That is really the principle that we are looking at,” he said.

Dzanjalimodzi dismissed as unfortunate speculation that the opposition wants to impeach President Mutharika.

“If parliament resumes, parliament through the business committee would have to decide what would be done. And in the business committee you have representative from all parties including government. So, it would be a decision made in the business committee. Now, I don’t think there should be fear because they are unnecessary the question of impeachment and so on is not correct. We only have about a year to go to elections, about a year and a half the elections would be next year in May. Why should we bother about impeaching the president this time… it’s only used as an argument to prevent parliament from sitting. That is how we are looking at it,” Dzanjalimodzi pointed out.

Some political analysts believe the political tension between the government and the opposition would significantly undermine international donor programs for the country.