CMD hopeful political parties bill will be tabled

Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD) has said it expects the Political Parties Bill to be tabled during the current sitting of Parliament.

The bill aims at striving for the development of a well-functioning multiparty political system and promotion of accountable political parties in Malawi.

Speaking at a press briefing in Lilongwe on Monday, CMD Executive Director  Kizito  Tenthani said since 2010, as part of discharging its mandate, CMD has been facilitating dialogue around the issue of the regulation of the political parties among its members and other stakeholders regarding the bill.

He said the dialogue established for the regulation of political parties towards the contribution that the political parties make to the consolidation of democracy in the country.

According to Kizito, political parties and Legal affairs Committee of Parliament agreed to have further discussions on the issue which prompted CMD to believe that the bill will be passed in Parliament if tabled.

“Our expectation is that this bill will passed because the political parties and legal affairs committee of Parliament have shown interest on this while Leader of Opposition in the house pledged to have further discussions on this,” he explained

According to Kizito, CMD expected that the bill would be tabled in the National Assembly in 2016 but this did not happen but this time there are expectations that the bill will tabled.