DPP maintains Kasaila as leader of opposition in parliament

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Francis Kasaila

BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)—In a twist of events, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has maintained its stand that Francis Kasaila remains Leader of Opposition in Parliament contrary to the outcome of the election that the Members of Parliament held last week which saw Kondwani Nankhumwa amassing more votes.

The meeting which took over five hours at the Party’s President Prof Arthur Peter Mutharika’s private home in Mangochi was attended by about 50 Members of Parliament with some notable faces such as Joseph Mwanamvekha, Susuwele Banda, Symon Vuwa Kaunda, MacTimes Malowa, Noel Lipipa, Mary Navicha, among others.

Speaking in an interview with journalists after the meeting, DPP chief whip in Parliament Symon Vuwa Kaunda said the meeting was a caucus which routinely happens when parliament is in session.

“We held this meeting to have an audience with the president so that that we can discuss a number of issues happening in Parliament. These are kind of meetings that we always have. There is nothing sinister about this particular one,” he explained.

Kaunda said among others, the caucus discussed the position of Leader of Opposition in Parliament and how to conduct business in Parliament.

“We have discussed and maintained our stand that the Leader of Opposition is Francis Kasaila not Kondwani Nankhumwa who was self imposed on the position,” he said.

Kaunda, therefore, asked DPP supporters not to be carried away by opportunists and advised them to continue rallying behind Mutharika.

Maneno Chimulala

I am a journalist, educator, and activist with passion for telling stories about social justice, sports and political issues. I graduated from Mzuzu University. I started my career at the Maravi Post online publication in 2012 as an intern while in college. Upon graduating from Mzuzu University I was offered a job as Sports Reporter because of my background as a goalkeeper and rose to the position of sub editor. I also had a short stint with Nyasatimes, Malawi Punch and Malawi Digest. Over the past seven years, I have worked intimately with rural organizations and communities in Malawi on human rights, girl child education and grassroots development projects. With an academic background in education, I also volunteer as male champion for girls’ education under Girls Empowerment Networks (GENET) in Malawi’s South West Education Division (SWED).