Lawyer Silungwe says Mutharika now must sign Malawi electoral bills into law
A prominent lawyer says President Peter Mutharika will have no option but to sign the electoral reform bills which sets date for the fresh election on July 2 and says the presidential election winner will have to get 50%+1 votes as interpreted by both the Constitutional Court and upheld by the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal.
Lawyer Dr Chikosa Silungwe says that the law is very clear that when the President vetoes a bill, it should be brought back to parliament for debate again and when passed, the Head of State cannot reject it again.
“A bill which is presented to the President a second time cannot be vetoed, this is a straight forward issue,” he said.
Chikosa’s clarification on the matter comes at a time when there is anxiety on whether the electoral reform bills would be passed to pave way for the fresh election.
Chairperson of the Legal Affairs Committee of parliament Kezzie Msukwa accused the president of failing to call for an emergency meeting of parliament to pass the electoral reform bills a second time to pave way for the July 2 election.
“It seems this President does things contrary to what Malawians want,” he said.
He described the failure by the President to call for a meeting of parliament over the electoral reform bills as a Constitutional crisis.
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Kumasamba koma alongosi
Silungwe is another Tumbuka
Ndiye mwati nyau ili pa picture yi ndi lawyer? Kikikik Koma atumbuka mwaonjezatu eti. Inu zowona azichita kukuposani Papa ” Mr Kumeneee!” kusamba?
Ukamfunse Jane Mayemu Ansah, APM, Mbeta, Chokotho ndi Kaphale za ameneyu kuti kodi ndi lawyer?
Anthu omwe mumakhala mtauni muno ndi salary yoti mukanyoza a opposition ndi kutsutsa muma Facebook,nyasatime ndi ma page enawa,mukaluza pa July 2 pano,muzidzagwira ntchito yanji?
Poti mukadya ndekuti mwatukwana 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Why are people forcing APM to sign his own death certificate? This is torture.
When that bill comes Sir, go to the bathroom take a very executive and elegant shit in peace and wipe your ass with it then flush it down the toilet!!! That nepotistic court will know Nyekhwe!!
Bwana Silungwe kameteni tsitsi. Mukuoneka ngati a misala sizikukukhalani
Let the biased courts sign the bill,they are too excited with making biased and poor judgements
Silungwe, go and complete the PhD you failed.
He he he koma kumeneko kkkkk
Umbuli upotse apa? Ndiye bwenzi akuti Dr. Chikosa Silungwe akanalephera PhD. Singati za Prof. Getrude Muthalika, Dr. Ben Phiri and enawo.
To president Peter Munthalika, I thought you said you will follow the constitution of the great land of ours, Malawi. The constitution gives you power to appointed people,it is the same constitution that allows you to stay at state house,it is the same constitution that allows to open the parliament.Remember that the citizens are the bosses for you.The citizens employed you in 2014, have you forgotten that you asked malawians to choose you to lead us into prosperity.
My question is this why are you doing this is the bosses.Remember the citizens shall govern.We also elected members of parliament to check what you are doing with the power we gave you.It looks like you have started abusing the power we gave you.Please open parliament so that our employees should do the other part of work, we want them to do some work ,to sharpen our constitution for us and our children.Us the citizens we want peace at all times. Don’t forget that our grand parents fought for us to enjoy too much peace , stability and unity.So what you are doing is holding our future, this is not good.Sign those bills because the citizens demands that.Do not accuse opposition for what you are doing.We don’t have enough time to be on the streets now please,Mr president do the right thing.We want to choose other leaders coz we have seen that you are becoming difficult to understand and follow our constitution.The citizens shall govern.We put the judiciary to interpret what the legislature has been doing all these years, to all of us.And we want you to follow what the legislature has given you.But both of you the executive, legislature and the judiciary you belong to the citizens.I hope you understand that without questioning.How are you going to participate in an election process when you don’t want to lead by signing up the reformed bills.As the citizens we want to use these bills on 02 July 2020 when we will be changing government Leadership by voting you out.Our rights allow us to use the 50+1% rule.What we want is be one Malawi not three regions and you start favouring one region.
The usual 5th grade lawyers like Silungwe showing their stupidity. The president has the constitutional right NOT to sign bills. The same constitution says, when this happens, parliament will debate and vote on the bills again. MPs who represent the people have the sovereign right to reject the bills.
You are very right, the rejected bills are supposed to be retabled once parliament has been called by the speaker in liason with the president who usurps more power. Now the president is not calling for this sitting, what should the MPs do. This means that the president is has no choice but to assent to the bills coz he is the one making dilly dallying on the issue as the Jane Ansah proposed voting date is drawing closer
The constitution says parliament should AGAIN debate bills when the president does not sign them. So, our parliament which represents the people will have to denate the Bill’s again and vote. Courts do not make laws. They can only interpret laws.
Lame duck of the so called president
APM did what the constitution says. A president can assent or WITHHOLD assent to bills.
Or Withhold. I like that
I don’t think we have the President in this Country, can we use the Vice President to do this please! I think this is the work also for the vice President since the President is not ready to do this. We can take it as if the President is dead since he is not on duty ladies and gentlemen! We can not keep on begging him like he is our God, he is just nonsense I mean he is nothing even in the eyes of Devil. This is the sign that we are more than him or her, is it he or she? Eish sorry what ever. Let the vice President take over, I think we have the vice president right? The Country can’t be like this for the whole fuckin year like it is on pending for liquidation!
This is a Country of more than 17 million plus people! Let not this useless President waste our time, we have a lot to do. Bastard!
Dzanja linalemba kale khoma basi. Whether he likes it or not ASAYINE BASI!
Pitala was fooled by lomwe boys, he was told Malawians are timid people ,they don’t fight back when taken for granted, panopa waziwonera yekha Kuti Malawians are more cleaver than himself Mtchona. Awona nyekwee .
Yes I concur with Silungwe on condition that the amendment bill for electoral act cannot be rushed due to the supreme court’s ruling. The parliament is paramount and will still be paramount .
The court has no mandate to order Parliament which laws to enact and which laws not to enact.
When citizens elect members of parliament, it means those citizens are surrendering their autonomy to members of parliament to make decisions on legislation on behalf of those citizens.
Remember judges are not elected members. In contrary members of parliament are elected members and it will be a violation of the constitution to be ordered by courts which laws they should enact. A fundamental doctrine of natural justice is that ‘No man should be judge in his own cause’ nemo iudex in sua causa..
Malawi must not not allow courts to take advantage of the alleged chaos in the country. Malawi should not allow UNSURPATION OF THE LEGISLATIVE FUNCTION .(THE PARLIAMENT.)
Only after those bills have been taken back to parliament and pass by 2/3 Majority, will the president be in a position to endorse them or not.
But as of now , those bills they have not even passed the first test of being passed by 2/3.
I conclude : The doctrine of parliamentary supremacy entails the necessary constitutional subordination of judges to parliament and has several implications:
1. it is well established that the sovereign parliament can overturn any court decision by way of legislation.
2 The judiciary’s primary role in relation to the interpretation of statutes is to give effect to the latest expression of the will of parliament. (2/3) will of parliament.
You are right. Parliament is paramount and sovereign. The bill will have to be debated again and voted on. That’s what our constitution says should happen when the president withholds assent. Parliament will debate and vote. Courts cannot force parliament to pass laws.
The last kick of a dying donkey. That is all what dictators do when their days are numbered. Peter Hitler Mutharika saw it coming and that was the reason he promoted his tribesmen to head MDF and the police so that he can declare himself LIFE PRESIDENT. He is fucking 80 years old, but he still want to cling to power like Malawi is a monarch. This mandala is a real problem, and he wants to put Malawi into a constitutional crisis. Malawians fought Kamuzu Banda and where the fuck was he? I think this should be a lesson to Malawians that anybody over 70 years old must not be a president. These people don’t see times changing, but they cling to the medieval dictatorship thinking. They can’t think out of the box. A person who think on tribalism and regionalism line is out of touch of how the world works today. The world of today wants leaders that deliver, leaders that can turn Malawi into a land of milk and honey not tribal wars that Peter Hitler Mutharika has in his mind just for him to remain in power. Peter Hitler Mutharika and Jane Ansah are clear present danger to the stability and prosperity of Malawi. I urge all Malawians to go on the streets of every corner of our country and remove this mad dog, Peter Hitler Mutharika. Alluta continua until Malawi is free from this maniac Peter Hitler Mutharika, a thief and murderer.
Paja he waits for demonstration
eh Mr man, the President has too many very important things on his desk Including Corona. The file for this stupid Bill is missing. Go back to your stupid nepotistic judges to sign that coup d’etat BIll into law!
A constitutional crisis caused by greed and settling personal scores. The judges cannot control the executive nor the legislature.
Don’t blame the president he has powers to throw the bill out if he feels so.
Those corrupt and incompetent judges cannot make laws. It is parliament that make laws. MPs representing the people will debate and vote. Mr Silungwe, dont run away from parliament.
True. The greedy people who connived with corrupt and incompetent judges are the ones causing a constitutional crisis. Courts don’t make laws. Parliament does because MPs represent the people. Those judges will be humiliated one of these days.
Vuto lanu mkuona ngati opposition yawina kale. Koma osadziwa kuti mavoti amaponyedwa ndi anthu . Ndipo munthu amene uzavotere ndi chisinsi cha mu mtimwa mwako ovotawe. 50+1 ili simple mkamayitchula chonchi koma mzakhumudwa kuti Tonse alliance 46% ya mavoti. Tiyeni nazo ife tikudikila kukamvotera amene tikumfunayo. Zikachuluka ku una limodzi zimatsowa mphasa zogonera mbewa
Ukunama cadeti iwe. Tonse Alliance will amass more 50+1.
TONSE Alliance is already shaken by DPP & UDF alliance. Lest we forget the TONSE Alliance political parties:
MCP
UTM
PP
AFORD
HRDC
CFT
ConCourt
Supreme Court
Umodzi Party
MAFUNDE
PPM
PETRA
kkkkkkkk, Kenyatta osamuiwala ali mu alliance
Which Parliament A TIPEX ?A parliament prescribed by an incompetence MEC.
Plz Judges you had started well .We cant have a tipexed President so is we either have a Tipexed Member of Parliament or a Counselor all by products of an incompitant MEC .
Plz finish off all clean the constitution as you had started
Not only the president can call the Parliment the speaker too can do that so don’t blame APM here.
An incompetent tumbuka lawyer. Try and read the constitution. The constitution says that when the president does not assent to bills, they should be sent back to need to be debated again and voted on. Don’t start you stupidity again.
Tumbuka or not, he is one great son of the land. He has contributed towards freeing this nation from the claws of nepotism and tribalism so to speak.
Silungwe failed to complete PhD. Why is he still a lecturer?
You are the one who is showing ignorance and stupidity here.
Malawians are sadly about to learn the hard way of the error of allowing ‘imported persons’ to stand for presidential elections. This President is probably the worst so far that Malawians will somehow have to find a way of disposing. He obviously believes that because he lived 40+ years outside Malawi, that the laws of the Land are not applicable to him since he is in essence a citizen of another country. His behaviour clearly demonstrates that he feels he is above the laws of the Land. In the process holding hostage a whole nation. It appears to me now that both the judiciary and parliament are running out options I don’t know. Obviously he is desparately fighting for his political life even if it means resorting to dictatorship tactics. Like Malawians had fierce and protracted battles against the one-party state rule, this President is abusing his tippexed powers to cling to power. He has forgotten what and how The Almighty God deals with the likes of him or he doesn’t care! He has too quickly lost his recollection of what has happened to ex-President Al-Bashir of Sudan and the late Bob Mugabbe of Zimbabwe (sadly after reducing Zimbabwe to a state without its own currency….almost a failed state!). I don’t understand this President!
If a face can look so unpresentable. What about the hidden parts.
Now that battle lines have been drawn, mutharika should not waste time calling for parliament. Let the court continue tying itself in knots by issuing new directives.