Speaker of Parliament Catherine Gotani Hara has told the House that there are two vacant seats, including one seat which belonged to Malawi Congress Party president Lazarus Chakwera.
Chakwera resigned as Member of Parliament for Lilongwe North West Constituency from 4th May to contest in the presidential elections.
The other seat is for Mangochi West which fell vacant following nullification of the 21st May, 2019.
In related development, Member of Parliament for Mangochi Lutende Edrissa Kazembe has resigned as member of People’s Party (PP) and he will be serving as an independent.
The announcements were made at the start of the fourth meeting of the National Assembly in the 48th Session of Parliament today at the August house in Lilongwe.
The meeting has been planned to run for seven weeks starting from today 5th June up to the 24th July ,2020.
In her speech, Gotani Hara said up to 100 members will sit in the main chamber while the rest will be seated in the ministerial lounge and members lounge allocated according to the numerical strength of each party in the House.
She added that the party whips will decide which members from their respective parties should sit in which chamber while the Speaker will allocate the independent members.
“The House will sit for not more than 2 hours on each sitting day, with regard to hygiene measures, members and accredited stakeholders shall be required to follow mandatory hygiene requirements,” she said.
On Bills, she said out of eleven Bills that were passed by the House during the last meeting of Parliament which was held in February, 2020, six were assented to by the president and have since been published in the gazette of 8th May ,2020, effectively making them laws of the country.
