UNCLAS LILONGWE 000364

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KDEM MI
SUBJECT: FLOOR-CROSSING AMENDMENT ON PARLIAMENT'S AGENDA



1. SUMMARY. On April 12 the National Assembly passed a
motion accepting the introduction of an amendment to
Section 65 of the constitution at the next sitting of
Parliament. Section 65 defines what constitutes
"crossing the floor", or switching political parties, in
the National Assembly. The amendment would place tighter
restrictions on inter-party movements of elected
officials. END SUMMARY.


2. A proposed amendment to the Constitution will likely
be brought to Parliament for a vote at its next meeting,
scheduled for May. The controversial legislation follows
a dramatic party realignment of elected officials and
would prohibit further inter-party realignments within
Parliament. Passage of the bill would mean that an MP
would be required to vacate his or her seat in the
National Assembly upon allying with a different party or
declaring independent status; independent MPs would also
vacate their seats upon joining any political party.


3. The motion to amend Section 65 of the Constitution
was made by John Tembo, leader of the opposition and
President of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), and its
acceptance is an initial step in passing the law. At
this point, Parliament has only agreed that the amendment
can be brought to the floor for a vote at a future
sitting. Amendment of the Constitution requires a two-
thirds majority; for this reason, passage of the
amendment is not certain. Tembo's own MCP has only sixty
seats in the 193-member National Assembly and the motion
to introduce the bill passed because only a simple
majority vote is required for motions.


4. COMMENT. By sponsoring this amendment, Tembo is
trying to save his party from rumored defections in the
near future. The main backers of the bill are MCP and
United Democratic Front (UDF) loyalists, former
archrivals now united under threat of losses to President
Mutharika's new Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Clearly, some opportunist MPs want to maintain the status
quo in order to preserve their ability to declare
political independence (or, in the case of already
declared independents, join a political party) in the
National Assembly without having to resign. The
amendment would place tight restrictions on MP's
political realignments, and seems to be aimed
specifically at preventing the DPP from increasing its MP
membership.

GILMOUR