Suspension of MPs is barbaric, hurting democracy
Ms Mutti is the first female Speaker of the National Assembly in the political history of Zambia but her conduct in executing duties is compromised.
Ms Mutti is on record of curtailing debates by the opposition Members of Parliament whenever the lawmaker is on the floor of the house debating. This is not only disappointing but also shameful.
However, Ms. Mutti late last year suspended 18 Patriotic Front (PF) Members of Parliament for one month. Patriotic Front Lundazi Central MP Brenda Nyirenda is one of the lawmakers who were suspended.
Last Tuesday, Ms Mutti suspended Mr Emmanuel ‘Jay Jay’ Banda, the Petauke Central MP for 30 days. The question begging for an answer is, “what offence did Ms Banda commit?”
Reprimanding the opposition lawmakers by the Speaker of the National Assembly will not take Zambia anywhere. If anything, Zambia is embarrassing herself to the outside world because of the way the Speaker behaves by stifling the opposition.
The Speaker of the National Assembly doesn’t want to be criticised when things are not right. Truth be told, there is nothing like monopoly of wisdom. When things are wrong, there is absolutely nothing sinister about giving divergent views.
The Speaker is working on instructions from President Hichilema instead of operating professionally and independently.
Despite being a seasoned lawyer, Ms. Mutti has disappointed many people, particularly the female lawyers in our country. This is because she is not working independently. This is evidenced by the way she harasses the opposition Members of Parliament in the house.
One thing for a fact is that the suspension of the Member of Parliament deprives people of representation in Parliament. There will be no voice from the constituency whose Member of Parliament is suspended.
Let me hasten to mention here that Speaker Mutti should desist from suspending the opposition MPs on trumped up charges. The suspensions are in most cases an affront to democracy, illegal and regrettable as alluded earlier.