Aford MP brands Minister of Justice ‘ignorant’ of the law

Hot-headed Mzimba North MP Yeremiah Chihana (Alliance for Democracy-Aford) on Wednesday branded Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Bright Msaka as “ignorant” of the laws.

This was after Msake  proposed a Constitutional Amendment Bill  with a multiple choice-modelled proposal for members of Parliament (MPs) to decide whether the winner of the presidential election should be declared using either simple majority (first past the post) or 50-percent-plus-one as interpreted by the courts.

Chihana called Minister of Justice “ignorant” on the laws but when Speaker Catherine Gotani Hara asked him to  withdraw that statement, he  refused, saying: “I did not say that he is ignorant. I said he is ignorant of the law.

“So, if he was reading the law properly, Madam Speaker, I am in order.”

Continued Chihana: “ May be it was an issue of English, some of us really think in English. He must have been thinking in Chichewa or Lhomwe which is not the case with me.”

In introducing the Bill, Msaka asked the House to debate and pass Bill Number 11 of 2020 Constitutional (Amendment) Bill which he said sought to amend the Constitution to provide for a new date for holding the presidential election and to provide a criteria for determining the winner as well as other ancillary matters.

But the minister later announced that the Bill had been changed before it was debated and deleted the entire section that asked MPs to decide between first-past-the-post and 50-percent-plus-one.

Said Msaka: “We want to have credible elections on the government side. The date that we have proposed is 23rd of June. We are not afraid of 50+1. We are very ready, but we just want to do it by the Constitution and not through a motion.”