DPP Wants Opposition to Fight Own Battle for Speaker

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has not taken heed of opposition's plea for the position of, at least, one deputy speaker of parliament preferring to feature candidates in all crucial positions instead. The party has earmarked former Leader of the House, Henry Chimunthu Banda, for the position of speaker, seconded by former deputy speaker Jones Chingola and new comer Juliana Mphande, respectively. This, in essence, dismisses the opposition's request to, at least, have a position to call. United Democratic Front's (UDF) spokesperson, Rob Jamieson, appealed last week for the DPP to be considerate and allow the opposition a slot in any of the speakers' positions. The speaker, once elected in parliament by MPs, serves as the head of the legislature- one of the three branches of government. DPP has surprised many a political observer by pulling a surprise in the May19 parliamentary elections, with 114 MPs to boot. This is the largest number to be had by any political party in Malawi and opens a new chapter in Malawi's democracy as observers stand eager to learn what the next five years would be like. There are fears the DPP may abuse its numerical advantage and initiate policies that may be in the public's interest, sentiments dismissed by DPP spokesperson Hetherwick Ntaba. When asked as to why the party has nominated people for all positions, DPP Secretary General Henry Chimunthu Banda, said it would have made no sense had the party left out the other two positions of First Deputy and Second Deputy Speaker, respectively, because there is no formal agreement between the party and the opposition at the moment. "That is why our party caucus chose people we felt could represent us well. Let the opposition parties fight their own battles as well, by earmarking people for the positions. It is parliament that will decide, in the end, so there is no need to worry at all," said Chimunthu Banda. During the most recent parliament, which was dissolved on March 20, 2009,, the opposition never gave the minority DPP government a chance to the top three positions, a development observers say the DPP could have emulated.

AEP/Richard Chirombo