By Burnet Munthali
According to different media sources, the battle for Leader of Opposition(LoP) is still going on, despite the office of Speaker of the National Assembly not recognising newly appointed Democratic Progressive Party ( DPP) lawmaker for Thyolo Thava Mary Navicha,she has today occupied the seat in the House.
However, many Malawians are confused and do not know exactly why the Speaker of Parliament has taken such a stand in this matter.
The disgruntled former Leader of Opposition Kondwani Nankhumwa has instead been temporarily allocated a seat on the independent benches.
Interestingly, some DPP MPs have also moved to independent benches side in apparent solidarity with Nankhumwa.
It is not very clear if these members of Parliament are sure of what they are doing today by ditching DPP to the independent side.
Leader of opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is the parliamentary chairperson of the largest political party in their respective legislative chamber that is not in government.
The largest political party in this respective legislative chamber is the Democratic Progressive Party.
The Leader of the Opposition is responsible for managing the way the opposition develops policies , scrutinises the government and acts in Parliament. Their duties include: acting as the main opposition spokesperson. selecting members of their party or coalition to be shadow ministers.
Citing the Parliamentary Standing Order 35 (1) which reads: “the leader of opposition shall be elected by the party not in government having the greatest numerical. Strength in parliament at any point in time.
It is therefore surprising that in the case of Kondwani Nankhumwa, he was appointed by the Speaker of Parliament as a caretaker instead of the DPP should have chosen someone as Leader of Opposition of their choice.
Secondly, the DPP chose their Leader of Opposition but Kondwani Nankhumwa has been going to court to get an injunction restraining the newly appointed leader from taking over.
The former Leader of Opposition had been getting legal opinion from the Attorney General a thing which brings a kid of suspicion because surgery p Attorney General is government lawyer representing government.
Conclusion
What should Kondwani Nankhumwa have done right after getting fired from the party? He should also allowed himself to grieve first.
He must have taken a break from social media. Nankhumwa should not cling to the position of Leader of Opposition nor the DPP which has already fired him.
You don’t keep keys for the house which your landlord has evicted you. Neither do you normally cling to office keys after which your services have been terminated, you look foolish.Kondwani Nankhumwa must rebuild himself appropriately.
Let him work out his next destination and take time for himself.
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