The first week of the 51st Parliament’s seating has concluded, with the government and opposition differing in their observations regarding the business discussed in the House.
Leader of the house, Richard Chimwendo Banda expressed satisfaction as the State of the National Address (SONA) was discussed and members asked questions to cabinet Ministers.
Chimwendo also commended lawmakers for bringing the issue about the country’s food situation, saying it was an opportunity to government to support people affected
The Minister of Local Government said appearance of President Lazarus Chakwera to answer questions from MPs and national budget presentation by minister of finance, are some of the major things scheduled for next week.
“Next week we expect the president to answer questions on Wednesday and then on Friday the ministry of finance is going to present budget statement for 2025-2026 years”
“So it’s going to be a very good week because members of Parliament will be finalizing their SONA presentation and we expect a hot Parliament” said Chimwendo.
Meanwhile, leader of opposition George Chaponda said the opposition side did not contribute to the deliberations of the SONA, describing it as ‘unconstitutional’.
However, Chaponda said he is expected to ask the president questions to answer when appearing in the house next week.
“We were not contributing to the SONA because it was more of political but we are going to ask him our questions when he comes next week” said Chaponda.
The first week has seen many seats unoccupied, as some members are are doing campaigns in their respective constituencies.
