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The opposition Socialist Party has called on the Speaker of the National Assembly, Nelly Mutti, to avoid being allegedly used by men in Parliament to breach the Constitution through unnecessary manouvers.
Party Member of the National Management Council in-charge of Resource Mobilisation, Olivia Phiri, noted that the National Assembly was the last house where laws were made.
Phiri said this during a joint media briefing of women in politics from different political parties in Lusaka on Tuesday.
“Madam Speaker you cannot be used in the night and still want to be used during the day, National Assembly is the last house where laws are made and you can not be used by men to violate the constitution,” she stated.
Phiri observed that Parliament had standing orders and decorum which had been followed for years and Mutti was a disappointment when it come to handling Parliamentary issues.
She said Mutti was blocking the chances of other women getting such positions in future or being appointed by future Presidents.
“What now the Speaker doesn’t understand is that she is blocking other women because they will say women are like this, it will remain in the history like the Chair had explained the history of this country, we have women that fought for the independence of this country,” Phiri stated.
She further expressed disappointment with the Non-Governmental Gender Organization Coordinating Council (NGOCC) for offering solidarity to the Speaker who was allegedly busy breaching the Constitution.
Phiri noted that NGOCC had failed to support other women like the former Director of Public Prosecutions, Lillian Siyuni, and now the former Registrar of Societies, Thandie Mhende.
“We understand your current relationship with the Speaker and government, but you can not use that Organization that was created for a particular mandate to ensure that you fight for women equality,” she said.
Phiri accused the NGOCC of being a United Party for National Development (UPND) branch and was being used to promote the ruling party’s interest.
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