Analyst urges speaker to cultivate unity amid escalating parliamentary power struggles

Political analyst Sam Kauapirura says it will not be easy for National Assembly speaker Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila to maintain order without forging a sense of parliamentary camaraderie.

Kauapirura was referring to the chaotic parliamentary scenes of Thursday and the week before

He believes the nature of parliament has been evolving over recent years, with a new dynamic emerging, particularly from opposition members of parliament (MPs).

“I think we have seen the sort of theatrics playing themselves out over the past four years or so, with the MPs of the Landless People’s Movement in the previous seventh parliament also having had some scuffles and some commotions where they were forcibly removed from the House,” he says.

He highlights that when one takes a global view of the institution of parliament, it is fast evolving and changing.

He says the speaker needs “to quickly grasp the evolving nature of parliament, forge some parliamentary camaraderie” and “allow divergent issues without having to depart from the rules too much”.

He cautions that “being too rigid on the rules” may be perceived by MPs as stifling debate and preventing them from raising topical issues the ruling establishment may not want raised.

An inside source who spoke on condition of anonymity has described the removal of MPs from the chamber as disappointing and embarrassing.

“That is traumatising for the voters to watch, I never imagined that an MP would be subjected to such humiliating, inhumane, degrading treatment,” says the source.

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