Katsonga rejects ‘crossing’ the floor
The sole Member of Parliament (MP) for Chipani Cha Pfuko (CCP) Davis Chester Katsonga, who on Monday joined the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), has challenged that he cannot not be deemed to have crossed as he is the only CCP’s law maker in the House.
Katsonga wrote Speaker Richard Msowoya that he had made the decision mindful of Section 65 of the Constitution which does not allow crossing the floor.
The Constitution’s Section 65 state that “the Speaker shall declare vacant the seat of any member of the National Assembly who, was at the time of his or her election, a member of one political party represented in the National Assembly, other than by that member alone but who has voluntarily ceased to be a member of that party and has joined another political party represented in the National Assembly.”
Posting on his Facebook page-Breaking Old Habits with Davies Chester Katsona, the CCP leader claimed that the party’s national executive met and resolved to work hand in hand with the DPP led government in the interest of the country.
“I informed the Speaker of Parliament that I, as Chipani Cha Pfuko should be sat on the government side because my party had so resolved.
“On crossing the floor, because I am the only Chipani Cha Pfuko member of Parliament at the moment, I cannot be deemed to have closed the floor,” he said in response to claims by social commentators that he had violated anti defection law, Section 65.
Katsonga, who was one of the 12 presidential candidates in the May 20 elections, claimed that President Peter Mutharika is committed to transforming Malawi both economically and socially.
“And as Chipani Cha Pfuko, we would like to be a part of that success, besides, isn’t that Malawi is crying out for? Unity?” he said.
Katsonga joins United Democratic Front (UDF) president Atupele Muluzi who was appointed Minister of Natural Resources and Energy in the Mutharika government, but he remains UDF leader outside the House.