Mulanje Central legislator Kondwani Nankhumwa has withdrawn a private member’s Bill he wanted to table in Parliament as a constitutional amendment to bar any person above 80 years of age to contest as President of the country.
Many saw the Bill, as a direct target to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) leader Peter Mutharika, who is over 80 years old and has expressed interest to contest for the presidency at the forth coming elections.
The party fired expelled Nankhumwa who expressed interest to take over from Mutharika as DPP president.
Parliament spokesperson Ian Mwenye told The Nation the Nankhumwa withdrew the Bill on his own accord.
“Yes, I can confirm that it [the age limit Bill] has been withdrawn,” he said.
The Bill faces criticism from various stakeholders including the Malawi Law Society (MLS).
MLS president Patrick Mpaka said the Constitution in Section 87 addresses issues of capability of a President and Vice-President, as such, there is no constitutional gap to address.
“Amending a Constitution is quite a serious matter and should ordinarily seek to advance and protect the public more than private interests.
“Proposed changes to the Constitution must be objective and have regard to the wishes of the people of Malawi generally,” he said
According to a memorandum of the withdrawn proposed amendment, the Bill sought to amend Section 80 (6)(b) of the Constitution which provides for age eligibility of presidential candidates.
It reads in part: “Section 80 (6)(b) of the Constitution Act No 20 of 1994 of the laws of Malawi [hereinafter referred to as the ‘Constitution’] is amended by inserting the following new words ‘and is not more than eighty years old’ at the end of Section 80 (6)(b).”
This was going to be a second attempt after a similar move failed in 2018 when former DPP legislator for Nsanje South West Joseph Chidanti-Malunga proposed that the maximum age for those aspiring for the presidency should be capped at 65.
Currently, Section 80(6) of the Constitution stipulates that a person is eligible for election as President or Vice-President if he or she is a citizen of Malawi by birth or descent and has attained the minimum age of 35, but there is no maximum age cap.
In 2017, a report by the Special Law Commission on Electoral Reforms said it would be difficult to justify such exclusion where a potential candidate was, for all relevant purposes, fit and able to execute the functions of an elected office.
Further, the Constitutional Review Report of 2007 also looked at the matter and the commission then considered that this was a political issue best left to the political process.
