FORMER Tourism Minister William Harrington has urged Zambians advocating for Bill 7 to reflect seriously on the financial burden of maintaining an already bloated Parliament.
Speaking in a walk-in interview with The Mast, Harrington wondered where the 85 new Members of Parliament would sit in parliament, as the current one would only accommodate 164 members.
Harrington said the United Party for National Development (UPND)’s intention to increase the number of MPs from 164 to 261 would be illogical, as the current seating arrangement was facing challenges.
He said the current parliament had no capacity to accommodate the proposed 85 new MPs.
“The thing is that if you create more constituencies in Parliament, there are questions that say, where are they going to sit? Look at Parliament, there are a few seats, where are the other seats going to come from? Because even the current small number of MPs sit like sardines, and increasing the number will worsen the situation,” Harrington said.
He questioned the UPND’s motive to undertake the delimitation of constituencies without considering the cost implications.
“I don’t agree with the delimitation. Delimitation in the constitution doesn’t say they must delimit, it says consider delimitation,” he said.
Harrington urged the UPND not to avoid constructive debate on the matter, saying the best government could do was to listen and take into account the concerns Zambians were raising.
“The cost of having the current eight nominated MPs is small compared to the cost of having 85 new MPs. The government should not avoid this debate,” he said.
Harrington said the new MPs would require new vehicles apart from allowances and gratuity, adding that the new financial calendar would not only put pressure on the treasury but also the taxpayers, who would be required to pay more to finance MPs.
He also said the proposal to do away with by-elections was a danger to democracy as it promoted dictatorship.
The Mast
This government should be careful with it’s bill 7 ,especially on the part of delimitation it will cause alot of harm and damage to the economy if tolerated,with already a mountain of debt that the country has this is suicide, government should put the interest of the people first not their own self ego in front, if constituencies are big then it is better to give those constituencies atlist a bit higher of the cdf than increase the mp which will have to pay for an mp and also give more cdf ,this is being careless to the part of the government
Look at the bigger picture….. “EFFECTIVE DEVELOPMENT”
I think some people including Bally are already thinking ahead of you, they are very much aware of your concerns. The sitting capacity of our Parliament may not even be an issue to them. The Parliament can be extended and we have old wings at MICC, one of them can be used as temporal Parliament whilst renovations and extensions will be going on at Parliament.
William concentrate on help you brother lubinda
I am disappointed by this statement from William. Surely if he thinks a country can fail to extend the capacity of the parliament to accommodate more MPs, then his thinking capacity is getting weak!!
So furniture can not rearranged? Harrington used advance serious opinions. But this is one that is expected from someone in Primary school. Is this his best shot? If so it time for Harrington to stop embarassing himself with infantile opinions. We had respect for the man but this is now way below the belt commentary from a man of his stature.