The proposed standing orders are seen as crucial in guiding operations and governance of institutions falling under the Malawi Parliament.

Presenting the report Chairperson of the Legal Affairs Committee Maxwell Thyolera noted that the current standing orders adopted in November 2013 have brought irregularities, inconsistencies and gaps thereby affecting operations of the House.

Thyolera explained this is why his Committee embarked on a comprehensive review of the orders and among others came up with drastic recommendations on restructuring of some parliamentary committees, extension of their days on sitting times and on the election and removal of the Speaker.

One of the proposed change is that Wednesday should be designated for government bills and committee reports and that the House should sit for a full day as opposed to the current practice where members meet for a half day on Wednesday.

There is a proposal that Thursdays should be purely for private members business such as motions, bills and constituency statements as the actual amount of time for private members business was grossly inadequate and oftentimes their business is never concluded in the current arrangement.

On questions to the President the Committee recommended that a sitting President is mandated to respond to members' questions after delivering the state of the nation address but it advocated on the need to regulate the process to avoid chaos.

In the event of a division following a voice vote the Legal Affairs Committee is of the view that members should do a secret vote to avoid them voting against their conscience, and toeing their party lines especially on contentious matters.

The Legal Affairs Committee feels that some members fear for reprisals from leaders of their respective parties if they vote against their party’s wishes hence the secret vote is the most ideal.

With the number of Committees currently standing at 20 there is a proposal that there should be an almagation of some of them to 13 considering resource constraints in ensuring that they meet for 4 weeks each financial year.

According to Thyolera, this would reduce the numerous duplications which have been observed to the annoyance of government officials who have been made to appear before different Committees which basically have the same objectives.

Additionally this has proved costly to government officials and a lack of proper planning has been observed on the part of the Committees.

On the election of the Speaker and his Deputy Speakers the Committee noted that the procedure in the Malawi Parliament is cumbersome and it’s only being practiced here.

The Committee is of the view of bringing back the 2003 version of Standing Orders on the Speaker’s Election as well as Deputy Speakers so that they are similar to what happens in other parliaments.

The other amendment is on the election and removal of the Leader of the Opposition which the Committee is of the view that the current standing orders be completely deleted so that the provision is in tandem with other legislative bodies under Commonwealth.

Government Chief Whip Henry Mussa described the report as a comprehensive one as it guides their operations and tenure of office bearers but nonetheless observed the need for further consultations before debating the report.

Speaker of the National Assembly Richard Msowoya then ruled that debate be deferred to next week preferably on Wednesday to give members time to consult on the proposed amendments.