WHAT WAS THAT SEEMING CELEBRATORY DANCE BY THE SPEAKER ALL ABOUT?
By Kellys Kaunda
I am trying to wrap my head around the apparent celebratory gestures of the Speaker in the House today when Bill 7 came up for Second Reading or was that 3rd Reading?
Perhaps someone can make me understand the meaning thereof.
Was she celebrating the passage of the Bill or thanking the MPs for their participation?
I was trying to go through my mental files to see if I can recall a time in the history of the Zambian parliament when the Speaker demonstrated this “joy” at the passage of a Bill. I can’t find any.
I am raising this matter because the Speaker has always been regarded as a referee who plays a neutral role in the debates of the House.
He or she is not expected to make public their personal feelings or preferences regarding the issues over which they preside.
While I am not privy to the reasons for her seeming celebratory gestures, I am not in a position to draw a definite conclusion but to simply ask:
what did you see and what does it mean for the impartiality expected of the occupant of the position of Speaker of the National Assembly?
She was glad about women representation
She was glad that MPs voted as is expected of the MPs in a democracy. She would have not been a happy speaker if all MPs had refused to vote.