Malawi government facing collapse

Blantyre - Malawi's Supreme Court granted powers on Friday to the speaker of parliament to fire defecting MPs in a move likely to lead to the collapse of President Bingu wa Mutharika's minority government.

In a much-anticipated ruling, Chief Justice Leonard Unyolo determined that the speaker could use a controversial constitutional provision to expel any lawmaker who had changed party affiliation, including around 30 former opposition or independent MPs who now sit on the government benches.

"We are in full agreement with the high court that Section 65 of the constitution is not inconsistent with other provisions and it is valid," Unyolo told a packed courtroom.

The judgement was the climax to a long-running dispute which was argued before the lower courts, with Mutharika himself leading the pressure for a definitive interpretation of Section 65 after opposition parties began pushing for the expulsions a year ago.

About 60 of the parliament's 193 members will be affected by the ruling, half of whom are now loyal to Mutharika's government and his ruling Democratic Progress party after being enticed to cross the floor.

The speaker, Louis Chimango, has yet to make his intentions clear but is widely expected to expel the MPs when parliament reconvenes at the end of the month, given his background in the opposition Malawi Congress Party.

Mass by-elections would then be held to replace all those who had been forced out of parliament, leaving Mutharika with the task of having to stitch together another coalition or else be forced out of office.

Attorney General Jane Ansah, who was present at the ruling, told AFP outside the court that she would brief the president about the outcome but acknowledged there was little room for manoeuvre.

"That's the end of it all. This is the highest court of appeal and now it depends on what parliament does," she said.

If Chimango, himself a lawyer, "requires my legal opinion, I will give it to him," she added.

Kalekeni Kaphale, a lawyer for the Friends of the Court pressure group which has been pushing for the expulsions said he was delighted by the verdict.

"It's a good day for some of us who believe in democracy," he said.