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| National |
| Business Committee earns MPs’ wrath |
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by
Edwin Nyirongo, 24 February 2007
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08:59:59
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Some Members of Parliament have hit back at MCP president John Tembo who on Tuesday this week described Parliament as childish after observing that the House had little to discuss during the four weeks Parliament will be in session.
The MPs said parliamentary proceedings are hampered by childish behaviour by members of the Business Committee of Parliament who fail to agree on issues of national importance when they meet.
The MPs say it is high time they stopped politicking during their meetings and try to resolve their political differences for the benefit of the country.
But the committee has defended its performance, saying accusations are done by people who do not know the noble job they do.
Blantyre City Central MP Gift Mwamondwe said the problems in the house start with the Business Committee of Parliament who fail to speak with the same language during preparatory meetings.
“Honourable Tembo said Parliament is childish.That is wrong. The truth is that the Business Committee of Parliament is childish because they behave like children when they are discussing issues,” he said.
The parliamentarian said things are not moving forward in the House because of differences that arise in the business committee, some of which could be avoided.
He suggested that the committee should be made accountable for their actions so that sense should prevail for the benefit of the country.
Chitipa East MP Chizamsoka Mulwafu also said Parliament is failing to move forward because of differences in the business committee.
“They are supposed to be discussing issues of national importance but you find them busy politicking. In such a situation their differences are spread into the house and make it ungovernable,” he said.
He suggested that government representatives should fight hard for the benefit of the country. He said the opposition have nothing to lose.
“Whether things go right or wrong, the opposition will not care because they are not government. It is the government which should fight for the survival of the country,” Mulwafu said.
A Malawi Congress Party Member of Parliament who did not want to be mentioned accused the business committee of spending a lot of money on allowances discussing nothing.
“Some of the people in the committee are not approachable and you cannot even give suggestions to them because they think they know a lot. In the end, we are forced to follow what they want even when we are against them,” he said.
The MP agreed with Mwamondwe that the committee is childish and that it should be made accountable for the chaos in Parliament in order to change their behaviour.
UDF MP for Mangochi Mkungulu Mahmudu Lali said it is not the entire business committee that is to blame but government members.
“They are the ones who are supposed to bring issues into the committee for discussion and cannot leave such a task at the discretion of the opposition. The ball is in the government’s court. And in such a situation, if they fail, they cannot fault the whole committee,” he said.
Speaker of Parliament Louis Chimango said the MPs should not rush to accuse the committee before understanding their nature of work.
He defended the character of the members, saying they were noble people with high integrity who know what they are doing.
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