Political impasse reaching 'point of no return', warn analysts

Malawi's parliament, where opposition parties are trying to impeach President Bingu wa Mutharika, has adjourned without passing a national budget. This has prompted the United Nations to express concern about serious damage to the economy that would hit hardest at the poorest and most vulnerable. IRIN reported on Tuesday that the office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator had urged parliamentarians to put aside their political differences to pass a budget for the country. "Failure to pass a budget will be damaging to the economy and could have very negative consequences, particularly for the least advantaged and most vulnerable. The poor should not have to pay the price for difficulties in resolving political differences, no matter how legitimate these differences might be," the office said in a statement. The political bickering between Mutharika and the leaders of the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) of former president Bakili Muluzi, and the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) of John Tembo, would not solve the social and economic problems facing the country, local analysts noted. Rafiq Hajat, executive director of the Institute for Policy Interaction, said the political differences between the government and the opposition had to be addressed soon. "We have been pushed to the point of no return," he remarked. The dispute began with the president's address to members of parliament two weeks ago, when he spelled out his economic agenda for the country in the coming year. Many opposition MPs, particularly those from the UDF and MCP, rejected the speech as containing "nothing tangible for Malawi". Last week UDF MP Lucius Banda proposed a motion to amend the constitution to allow MPs to impeach Mutharika and his deputy because the president left the UDF, which had sponsored him in the national elections. Speaker Rodwell Munyenyembe referred the matter to the legal affairs committee of parliament, but his decision sparked outrage among some of the UDF and MCP MPs. In the midst of a heated exchange about the matter, Munyenyembe collapsed, forcing parliament to adjourn. He later died in a hospital in South Africa. "Parliament is supposed to discuss the problems people are facing in this country; they are not supposed to discuss their [party] politics. The budget is very important and if it is not passed then Malawians will suffer, and even the IMF [International Monetary Fund] Board, which is meeting on 18th July, will not table Malawi's economic agenda for funding. This will mean that other donors will not support us," Hajat commented. Up to 80 percent of Malawi's budget allocation for development is provided by donors, and the country faces enormous challenges related to poverty, food insecurity, HIV/AIDS and the capacity to deliver services. Hajat added that, should Malawi fail to secure donor funding, "prices of commodities will rise and this will push up inflation, which is currently at 18 percent, and the rural poor will not be able to buy food items". "This is not a time for political stubbornness. The solution to this is for a statesman from another country, probably a head of state from within the AU [African Union], to intervene and maybe the politicians would listen," he said. Linda Ziyendammanja, publicity secretary for the Law Society of Malawi, told IRIN the political impasse would hurt ordinary Malawians. "If the budget is not passed, as it is supposed to be, by the end of this month, then this will have economic implications. What it means is that the basic needs of the people will not be met: government departments will not function because there will be no money to fund their programmes," she said. Ziyendammanja accused MPs of putting their partisan political agendas ahead of the needs of those who had elected them. "You cannot say I am opposed to the government budget when you have not seen it," she said, referring to media reports that some MPs had decided to vote against Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe's budget before he had presented it to parliament. "What the MPs are doing is an infringement of the rights of the people in Malawi," she said. "The conduct of MPs is not only unfortunate, but a tragic development for our nation."