LINKAGES BETWEEN PARLIAMENT AND CIVIL SOCIETY IN MALAWI

1. LINKAGES BETWEEN PARLIAMENT AND CIVIL SOCIETY IN MALAWI MAVUTO BAMUSI Malawi Economic Justice Network

2. Key Areas of Focus • Relationship around poverty reduction strategies • Relationship around public expenditure monitoring • Relationship on national budgets and macroeconomic frameworks • Media advocacy and interface with general public • Challenges of civil society in interacting with parliamentarians

3. Malawi • Population is 12.3 million but 6.3 million are poor • Women and children are the poorest, and the rich poor gap is too wide with the richest 10% of the population consuming over 80 % of what is produced in Malawi. • In 2000, Malawi launched Vision 2020, and also made commitment to the MDGs • In 2002, launched Malawi PRSP, in 2004 formulated MEGS, and in 2006 finalized formulating MGDS.

4. Malawi • Malawi has a programme with the IMF from which its macroeconomic framework is derived • Over 40% of Malawi’s budget is donor funded. 80% of development budget from donors too • 192- seat parliament which has the opposition in overwhelming majority

5. CS-parliament links on poverty reduction strategies • The Malawi PRSP was formulated in 2001-2002. MPs not deeply involved • MEJN therefore reproduced the MPRSP and disseminated to MPs through mini-workshops • MEJN makes annual budget submissions to parliament that also contain poverty reduction priorities • Malawi's second PRSP (the MGDS) has been finalized again without much interface with most MPs • MEJN has plans to compliment govt. efforts and take the MGDS to MPs and the general public

6. CS-parliament linkages on expenditure tracking and poverty monitoring • Monitoring focuses on Protected Priority (or Pro-poor) Expenditures {PPEs} • In 2002, MEJN agreed to monitor outputs and outcomes while Budget and finance Committee agreed on tracking movement of funds from treasury to expenditure points • Political dynamics in the period just before and in 2004 changed composition of committees and affected progress of work on monitoring • However, CS monitors public expenditures independently and provide reports to MPs

7. CS-parliament links on national budget debate • CS collects budget submissions from selected communities • Submissions form basis for pre-budget dialogue with parliamentarians • Upon tabling of the budget bill, MEJN produces an analysis report with recommendations that are submitted to all MPs • MEJN also produces shorter versions of national budgets for the constituents

8. CS-Parliament media advocacy • MEJN organizes live radio and television programmes on pro-poor policy and budget issues • Selected MPs representing parliamentary committees are drawn as panelists • MPs make their positions known on matters on national policy • General public also seeks direct responses from the MPs • MEJN sponsors a recorded 30 minute TV programme called “PHUNGU” which features the works of MPs in their constituencies and other policy matters.

9. Hosting Malawi Parliamentary Coalition on International Finance Institutions (MAPCOI) • Early in 2006, MPs formed the coalition to provide checks on policies of the World Bank and the IMF in Malawi. • MEJN has been providing the policy support and institutional home for MAPCOI • IMF/WB conditionality and the policy of privatization are expected to be deeply tackled by MAPCOI • MEJN hopes that political dynamics will not seriously affect the work of MAPCOI

10. Parliament and Macroeconomic Frameworks in Malawi • Malawi’s macroeconomic framework is largely IMF driven • The IMF uses the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) • The PRGF determines levels of national revenue, expenditures, tax trends, salary levels, debt levels, inflation and many more • The PRGF has been on and off since 2000 and a new programme was finally agreed in July 2005. • The PRGF has been central to Malawi’s debt relief

11. Limited participation of MPs in the PRGF • The formulation of the PRGF is done with great influence from the IMF • Macroeconomic frameworks used in the PRSP, and being used in the MGDS until 2008 are based on the PRGF • Neither MPs nor the civil society are involved in its formulation • Periodic reviews of the performance of the PRGF do not involve all MPs but selected few

12. Limited Input on “Conditionality” by MPs in Malawi. • The PRGF, and other donor programmes are full of conditionality • While not all conditionalities are bad, a majority of them are harmful to poor countries like Malawi • These include reducing civil service, salary ceilings, restructuring of state-owned enterprises, and removal of subsidies • Malawian MPs have little or no say on the formulation of these poverty multiplying conditionalities.

13. Challenges in CS-Parliamentary relations • Sometimes political party interests overshadow national development interests from the CS • Policy recommendations made by CS are welcomed or thrown away not based on merit but on whether an MP is on the “government” side or opposition benches • Dissolution of parliament prior to elections is a source of discontinuity for CS advocacy and renders capacity development efforts uncertain

14. Challenges…/ • Weak research capacity in Malawi parliament means CS has to fill in gaps and this is difficult in times of resource constraints • Lack of Access To Information law makes public expenditures and poverty analysis difficult • Inadequate information on loan contraction processes may threaten another debt burden • Heavy handedness of the executive branch of government makes CS efforts difficult and likely to be branded as “agents of the opposition”.

15. CONCLUSION • Partnerships between CS and parliament have proved to be essential in promoting transparency in public resource management in Malawi. They are also important building-blocks for capacitating the constituents to demand accountability and ensure that government policy formulation and implementation delivers the interests of poverty reduction and leads to participatory pro-poor macroeconomic policies.

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