Section 65 of the Malawian Constitution : the role of the Speaker, 2005-2009

• DOI: 10.10520/EJC139809
• Author: Louis J. Chimango
• Pages: 121-142
• Date: 01 January 2012
• Published date: 01 January 2012

SECTION 65 OF THE MALAWIAN

CONSTITUTION: THE ROLE OF THE

SPEAKER, 2005-2009

Louis J Chimango*

ABSTRACT

This ar ti cle re flects on the ex pe ri ence of the im ple men ta tion of sec tion 65 of

the Ma la wian Con sti tu tion in the pe riod be tween 2005 and 2009, fo cus ing

es pe cially on the role of the of fice of the Speaker of the Na tional As sem bly.

Af ter briefly tracing the his tory of the of fice, it ex plores the jus ti fi ca tion for

anti-floor-cross ing law, and then pro ceeds to dis cuss the ac tual contestations

con cern ing the ap pli ca tion of this law dur ing the pe riod in q ues tion. The lat -

ter will en tail an ex am i na tion of who the dis pu tants were and the po lit i cal

or con sti tu tional in ter ests they sought to ad vance and pro tect. Dis putes

around sec tion 65, as this pe riod am ply dem on strated, pro vide a source of

un cer tainty, in sta bil ity and po lit i cal ten sion in the coun try, with a con se -

quen tial neg a tive im pact not only on the func tion ing of the leg is la ture but

also on the econ omy. It is ar gued that as long as sec tion 65 is sues re main un -

re solved, his tory will re peat it self. For this l aw to be re spected and

im ple mented in an im par tial and open man ner, it is es sen tial that the Na -

tional As sem bly is guar an teed its au ton omy. This in cludes au ton omy over

its ses sions, and hence re mov ing or lim it ing the pres i den tial pre rog a tive to

pro logue Par lia ment, and the au ton omy of the of fice of the Speaker. Where

the gov ern ment has an in ter est in a mat ter be fore the S peaker or the courts

to which the Speaker is a party, it is not pos si ble, as hap pened in this case, for

the At tor ney Gen eral to act for the Speaker ef fec tively and in an im par tial

man ner. Lastly, this ar ti cle dis cusses the me di a tion ef fort that was at -

tempted to re solve the im passe around sec tion 65 and draws some l es sons

from it for the fu ture.

SECTION 65 OF THE MALAWIAN CONSTITUTION: THE SPEAKER 121

LLM (Lon don). The au thor was Speaker of the Na tional As sem bly dur ing the pe riod un der in -

ves ti ga tion. A lon ger ver sion of this ar ti cle can be ob tained from the au thor upon re quest.

*

IINTRODUCTION

This ar ti cle is part of an on go ing study on cross ing the floor in the Ma la -

wian con text. It ex am ines the role of the of fice of the Speaker of the Na tional

As sem bly in the pe riod 2005–2009 and, in pass ing, the roles of other con sti -

tu tional play ers in clud ing dis pu tants in ap pli ca tions and pe ti tions

con cern ing sec tion 65 of the Con sti tu tion of the Re pub lic of Ma lawi (‘Con -

sti tu tion’). It briefly re fers to the his tory of the of fice of Speaker, ex plains

why the Con sti tu tion reg u lates cross ing the floor and dis cusses in some de -

tail the ac tual contestations con cern ing the ap pli ca tion of this sec tion dur ing

the pe riod in ques tion. The lat ter will en tail an ex am i na tion of who the dis -

pu tants were and the po lit i cal or con sti tu tional in ter ests they sought to

ad vance and pro tect.

The con test over sec tion 65 in volved both op po si tion par ties in Par lia -

ment and the party in power whose pres i dent was also the Pres i dent of the

coun try. There was lim ited in ter face be tween these play ers on the one hand

and the of fice of the Speaker on the other hand as the dis putes were also

taken to the courts. A good part of the de bate had to do with the ef fect of

stays of court or ders or in junc tions. These stopped the Speaker from pro -

ceed ing with the ap pli ca tions un der sec tion 65 pend ing the res o lu tion of

spe cific is sues raised in the courts. This ar ti cle will thus ex am ine the ef fect of

the court or ders on the of fice of the Speaker to im ple ment sec tion 65. Apart

from dis cuss ing the ef forts made by the of fice to va cate the court or der, it will

also dis cuss other mea sures that were at tempted, in clud ing me di a tion, to

im ple ment this sec tion.

In a func tion ing de moc racy, the ex pec ta tion is that con flicts of a con sti -

tu tional na ture will be re solved in a timely man ner by or gans of state, namely

the leg is la ture and the courts. This is more so for Ma lawi which opted for

mul ti party rule and re jected one-party au to cratic rule af ter a na tional ref er -

en dum held in 1993. There was a se ri ous ef fort to unite the coun try in the

pe riod be tween 1991 and 1995. The Con sti tu tion is a prod uct of a con sen sus

that was reached at the end of the pro cess of na tional di a logue. Be sides

emphasising per sonal free doms and hu man rights, the Con sti tu tion

emphasises the sep a ra tion of pow ers be tween the ex ec u tive, the leg is la ture

and the ju di ciary1, and ex pressly re quires all or gans of state to up hold and re -

spect the Con sti tu tion and the rule of law.2 It de clares: ‘no in sti tu tion or

122 (2012) MLJ VOL.6, ISSUE 2

1Sec tions 7–9.

2Sec tion 12(f) as amended by Act No 11 of 2010.