Maravi

Parliament adjourns sine die

Parliament adjourns sine die
By By Ernest Chanda and Bright Mukwasa
Sat 25 June 2011, 04:02 CAT

PARLIAMENT adjourned sine die yesterday after emotional speeches from various members to mark the end of the Tenth National Assembly’s five-year term. And Wynter Kabimba says the PF will take President Rupiah Banda to court if he delays to dissolve Parliament.

After Vice-President George Kunda proposed a motion to suspend some Standing Orders to enable the House finish the day’s business and subsequently adjourn sine die, there was a sudden quietness while gloomy faces appeared among some members of parliament.


Prior to the adjournment, National Assembly Speaker Amusaa Mwanamwambwa invited all members of parliament to a farewell luncheon at the Parliament restaurant immediately after adjournment.

And all the members who debated gave eulogies to Speaker Mwanamwambwa who is scheduled to retire when a new Speaker is elected in the new sitting of the House, having served for two terms.

Lusaka Central Patriotic Front (PF) member of parliament Dr Guy Scott opened debate on the motion with an expression of disappointment that the government had messed up the constitution-making process.

He said the time had now come for the government leaders to face the same people they betrayed over the Constitution.

Mwense ‘rebel’ PF member of parliament Jacob Chongo who spoke highly of his perceived MMD government’s achievements also gave a hint of the meeting he and his other colleagues had with late former president Frederick Chiluba hours before he died.

Chongo emotionally recapped Chiluba’s achievements and how he asked all of them in the meeting to work hard and ensure that President Rupiah Banda won this year’s election.

And in what looked like his farewell speech, Mbabala UPND member of parliament Emmanuel Hachipuka advised his colleagues in the party to remove the tribal tag from the party.

Hachipuka who debated with passion and emotion started by announcing that he would not recontest the seat.

“I am closing debate for the Parliament chapter of my life. This is my 12th year in the House and I feel it’s enough for me to go and cherish my contribution to the people of Mbabala. To the UPND, I want to remind all of you what I did when the UPND was accused of being a tribal party.

I was the first to advise late Anderson Mazoka that let’s change the colour of the party by incorporating other people. That’s how I stepped down and I was replaced by Patrick Chisanga. We felt that the coming in of a Northerner would add value to the party,” said Hachipuka.

“It is not possible to get into government without the input of other people. And as we seat as UPND we must reflect. This country shall not be governed by only a few of the nine regions of this country. If we don’t open up as a party it will be very difficult to progress.”

After several other debates, the House adjourned sine die at 12:41 hours, amidst shouts of ‘goodbye’ from both the opposition and ruling party members.
President Banda is now expected to dissolve Parliament and Cabinet, and announce the election date.

And Kabimba, the Patriotic Front secretary general, has threatened that his party would not take lightly any manouvres by President Banda and his regime to play delaying political tactics in the dissolution of Parliament.

“What we hear is that he wants to do that because he wants his ministers to campaign for him using public resources,” Kabimba said during a media briefing yesterday.

“There can be no any other corruption; there can be no any other plunder than this. If this arrangement will continue we shall take them on. We shall go to court,” he said.

He said although the party had been disappointed before by the courts, it would not be discouraged it would still proceed.

Parliament rose sine die on Friday after sitting since May 31, 2011.
President Banda is expected to dissolve Cabinet and Parliament and subsequently announce the election date.

Meanwhile, Kabimba has said Sata is well and would contest this year’s election.
“Michael Sata is a political elephant who cannot be brought down by ‘small puppies’. I want to assure all our members that PF is intact.

We are going to our general conference on 2nd July 2011, to complete our party elections,” he said.

“Why should Sata prove to this world everyday that he’s alive? Rupiah Banda was not at the funeral (Chiluba's) but only after a few days. He was meeting his Malawian counterpart. Did we say he is dead? And when he came he cried so hard because his consultant was dead.”

Kabimba said insinuations that Sata was sick were fabricated by desperate individuals who were bitter.

Recently they have been reports circulating on blogs suggesting that PF president Sata’s health was failing him.

Labels: 2011 ELECTIONS, AMUSA MWANAMWAMBA, GEORGE KUNDA, PARLIAMENT

posted by MrK @ 7:29 PM