Parliament meets on Monday afternoon for a mid-year budget review session in Lilongwe for a period of four weeks. The meeting has coincides with the current investigations into maize that was procured from Zambia by ADMARC.
Speaking to MBC DPP spokesperson Francis Kasaira says Malawians expect a lot from their Members of Parliament hence the need to for them to rightly use their time in the House.
“As a ruling party we expect constructive contributions from our friends in the House as we strive to make lives of Malawians better. We are aware that our friends regard every platform as political that is why we are saying no to this one,” said Kasaila.
He said as a party they have planned to iron out areas where the budget did not do well and maintaining areas that have performed well within the country’s financial master plan.
“It's not a secret that the budget has faced some challenges and has also registered some good news, and it’s incumbent upon us to critically look into it rather than turn the House into a fighting arena,” said Kasaila.
Commenting on the same, Malawi Watch Executive Director Billy Banda asked the members to use their numbers for the benefit of their constituents.
“We have seen the Opposition publicly declaring in the media that there will be a lot of fireworks in the House but I think this is not necessary.”
Banda said the Opposition as a government in waiting must provide alternative solutions when things go wrong and not only criticizing.
On his part Chairperson for Civil Society Platform for Constructive Dialogue Oliva Nakoma asked Malawians to closely track their representatives during the House as to see if what they deliberate is what they have sent them to do in the House.
“We know many did not ask their constituents about their input on the budget as it is supposed to be, but our hope as the civil society is that they will act responsibly."
He also said parties in the House must wait for the two inquiries on Maize before starting to make sweeping statements on the issue in the house.
