MPs waste two weeks, govt business drags

Leader of Opposition in Parliament John Tembo has said it will be a record if Parliament finishes all the business that was planned for the current meeting.

With just a week to go, Parliament has taken much of its time debating a speech President Joyce Banda delivered in the House during the opening of the 44th session and debate on the budget statement Finance Minister Ken Lipenga made in the House.

Reacting on the progress of business after the media sought his views yesterday, Tembo doubted completion of the business.

“It will be a record if business will be completed because what we were told both in the business committee and in the House was that apart from the statement by the head of state, there will be 18 bills. This is third week and I don’t think it will be accomplished. It will be a record,” Tembo said.

He also said he is surprised that the state of the nation address has not been concluded.

“I am also amused because they have just shelved the speech by the head of state and gone straight to budget review.

Why have they shelved the speech of the president? They haven’t confided in me if there is any problem. The Leader of the House is free to talk to me if there is a problem,” Tembo said.

Earlier yesterday, Leader of the House Henry Phoya confirmed in an interview yesterday a silent protest by MPs over fuel has led to the stalling of government business.

He said several important government businesses including the confirmation of a new Audit General have been affected.

Patrick Kamange’s confirmation as new Auditor General has been appearing on the daily order paper regularly since the start of the meeting of Parliament, but to date government is yet to table the motion in the House.

“It’s pretty obvious that we are not going to achieve what we had planned to do during this sitting. We will not pass all the bills we set out to pass. Had we applied ourselves with diligence we could have managed to,” Phoya said adding:

“No one has officially said this, but from the under currents the issue of the fuel allowances is the main issue. Some MPs whom we have spoken to too are saying this is so and we have spoken to the party leaders but no one is speaking officially.”

He too cast doubt on the possibility of government bringing up Kamange’s confirmation under the current environment and said it was unlikely that the motion will be moved under the current sitting.

But opposition DPP Leader of the House, George Chaponda, said government was free to bring any business including that of Kamange’s confirmation.

“I am not sure why the confirmation has not been brought on the floor.

“It’s the prerogative of government to bring such matters on the floor but we don’t know why they are not doing so. Only them can explain this,” said Chaponda.

Apart from the President’s speech and budget statement, Parliament attempted to debate Education Bill, which was eventually thrown out.

Yesterday, the MPs, mostly from the opposition benches, spent the afternoon sitting contributing to the debate on the budget statement.

However, the MPs continued bringing the issue of the K10 million fuel allowance with Nsanje North MP Frank Viyazyi argueing why government can fail to pay them their allowances yet there has been what he labelled as ‘pay-frenzy’ to some dismissed civil servants.