Group wants parliament sitting cancelled

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Malawi Parliament Peter Mutharika

A group of people calling themselves concerned citizens has asked government to cancel the next sitting of Parliament and to instead use the money to assist hunger victims.

The next parliamentary sitting will commence on Monday, February 22 and during the session, members are expected to discuss several issues including the hunger crisis.

parliament
Group says Parliament should not meet

However, one of the concerned citizens, Lackson Million, said the state president should cancel the session in order to channel the money towards purchasing maize.

Million said it will be strange to see Members of Parliament (MPs) receiving hefty allowances and enjoying delicious meals at the expense of government while people who put them into power are not eating at all or are having one meal a day and spending nights at Agriculture Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) waiting to buy maize.

“The story of the coming parliament sitting is not good at all. I recall during Bingu wa Mutharika’s era, he once suspended the then session as the country experienced economic crisis as it is now.

“Now I am speaking as a Malawian citizen that can’t this Parliament meeting be suspended? You can see that in different constituencies where these MPs are coming from, people are dying of hunger,” said Million.

Million however acknowledged that the MPs have to discuss important issues concerning the country but argued that ending the maize crisis should be a priority.

He then blamed opposition parties for being silent on the matter, saying they should have been the ones advocating for the suspension of Parliament.