‘LAWLESS’ MUTTI UNDER FIRE
…Speaker’s conduct was complete lawlessness and partisan – Sangwa, Kabimba
By Mast Reporter
SPEAKER of the National Assembly Nelly Mutti has come under heavy fire over her open bias against the opposition with two respected senior lawyers condemning it as lawlessness and partisan.
On Tuesday, Mutti shot down two points of order from opposition Patriotic Front (PF) members of Parliament Luka Sumumba and Mutotwe Kafwaya and engaged in open quarrels with the lawmakers, even disparaging their party as disorderly.
This led to a walkout by the PF MPs as a protest.
Leading Mutti’s lynching, State Counsel John Sangwa said whatever was happening in the National Assembly of Zambia was complete lawlessness.
Sangwa said Mutti should not take sides in the debates on the floor of the House.
“And the language coming from the National Assembly is totally unacceptable. That’s not the role of the Speaker. Okay, the Speaker should not favour one side or the other,” he said.
During her bitter quarrel with the PF MPs, Mutti said the lawmakers were exhibiting the same disorderliness that was in their political party.
Simumba (MP for Nakonde) demanded to know why Mutti had not announced the new leader of the opposition despite the PF submitting the name to her office.
Rising on a point of order, Kafwaya (Lunte) demanded to know why Bill 7 had not been withdrawn from the National Assembly after it was declared unconstitutional and therefore illegal by the Constitutional Court.
Mutti curtailed his point order.
But speaking when he featured on Grindstone TV Verified programme yesterday, Sangwa said the Speaker should not take sides in the debates because she was an umpire [referee], acting like a moderator.
“And also, the Speaker cannot take sides in the debate. The Speaker is an umpire, okay? He’s like a moderator in the National Assembly,” he said.
Sangwa defended Simumba’s point of order saying it was the job of the main opposition party to choose their leader in the National Assembly, and not anyone else.
“That’s the job of the main opposition party. And it’s a very simple thing. I mean these are just acts of lawlessness, really. Whatever is happening in the National Assembly is complete lawlessness because the Constitution is very clear,” Sangwa said.
He said the process to choose the leader of the opposition was very clear and should not be talked about time and time again.
“And we’ve been through this process. You know, that’s why it’s so tiring talking about the same thing. But the Constitution is very clear. It is the responsibility of the main opposition party in the National Assembly to come up with the name of leader of the opposition. It’s very clear,” Sangwa said.
The process was very clear and should be followed.
“I think it’s two years later we’re still talking about the same thing,” he said.
Economic Front (EF) president Wynter Kabimba, who is also a state counsel, condemned Mutti’s attack on the PF lawmakers for walking out of the House as a form of protest and her slight on their party.
He said her statement was made in bad taste.
Kabimba, whose party is in an alliance with the ruling United Party for National Development (UPND), said Mutti had crossed her space when she castigated the PF MPs who had walked out on her as disorderly.
“Walking out of Parliament is one of the tools used by the opposition to protest against a ruling, against the conduct of the Speaker, against the manner in which one of the members has been treated. It is normal. The UPND used to walk out of Parliament during PF. Yes, of course, she crossed the red line. I didn’t think that it was unnecessary for her to have made that comment,” he said.
“I think it was made in bad taste. She now got into the realm of partisanship. I don’t think she has a right to comment on the internal affairs of any political party that is represented in the House or that is not represented in the House. So, I think she certainly crossed the red line. I saw that and I said to myself when I saw it in the evening that ‘this is in bad taste’.”
