UDF kicked out of business committee of Parliament

The United Democratic Front (UDF) has lost a representation in the Business Committee of the National Assembly following a decrease in the numbers of the party’s MPs in the house.

The development follows High Court ruling nullifying the Mangochi North East parliamentary election results.

Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Madalitso Kazombo announced this on Tuesday.

“According to our Parliamentary rules, only a party with 10 or more members is supposed to be represented in the Business Committee. As of now, UDF ceases to be a member of the business committee following the nullification of the Mangochi North East Constituency,” Kazombo was quoted as saying.
In the 2019 parliamentary election, UDF managed to get 10 seats but following the judgment, the number has been reduced to nine.

Currently UDF has formed an alliance with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ahead of the fresh President polls scheduled for June 23, 2020.

The parties will be represented by President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika and his runningmate is Atupele Muluzi.

Mutharika will face Dr. Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) who has formed an alliance with United Transformation Movement (UTM) President Dr. Saulos Chilima who is also State Vice President.

The constitutional court nullified the May 21, 2019 Presidential polls on February 3, 2020 and called for fresh Presidential polls with a period of 150days.