The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), as the main opposition, has asserted that Kondwani Nankhumwa, the lawmaker from Mulanje South whom the Speaker of Parliament acknowledged as the Leader of the Opposition during yesterday’s Business Committee meeting, should refrain from occupying a prominent position in the front row of DPP seating arrangements tomorrow when President Lazarus Chakwera inaugurates the Budget Meeting of Parliament.
Shadrick Namalomba, the spokesperson for the DPP, told the local media that Nankhumwa, not being a DPP member, lacks the legitimacy to lead the party.
Namalomba proposed that if the Speaker persists in recognizing Nankhumwa as the Leader of the Opposition, she may allocate him seating elsewhere, away from the forefront of DPP lawmakers.
Traditionally, the Leader of the Opposition assumes the third seat in the front row, directly opposite the government’s counterpart, the Leader of the House.
Should the DPP’s preferences be honored, it would mark the inaugural instance of a Leader of the Opposition presiding from independent or rearward benches.
