RULING BY THE HON MR SPEAKER ON A POINT OF ORDER RAISED BY MR L C BWALYA, MP, MINISTER FOR NORTHERN PROVINCE ON WHETHER THE UNITED PARTY FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (UPND) MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT WERE IN ORDER TO WALK OUT OF THE ASSEMBLY CHAMBER, AMPHITHEATRE AND OTHER DESIGNATED MEETING ROOMS

Hon Members will recall that on Wednesday, 24th June, 2020, while the House was considering the Report of the Committee on Media, Information and Communication Technologies, and the Hon Member of Parliament for Chama South, Mr D Mung’andu, MP, was debating, Mr L C Bwalya, MP, Minister for Northern Province, raised a Point of Order couched as follows:
"Mr Speaker, I recognise the fact that as Hon Members of Parliament, we do have an opportunity to walk out of Parliament and converse outside.  Sir, my Point of Order is on the Hon Members of Parliament for the United Party for National Development (UPND). Here, in the amphitheatre, where I am, all the Hon Members for UPND stood up and walked out. That left me wondering what was going on. I wondered whether these Hon Members are here to represent their electorates and perform their functions as legislators. I also wondered if the Hon Members are here to promote good governance and the democracy that we, as Zambians, have enshrined in the Constitution.

Mr Speaker, are the Hon Members for the UPND in order to walk out of the Assembly Chamber, the Amphitheatre and the other designated areas where they were seated, immediately after beginning deliberations after a long holiday due to the Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19)? Are the Hon Members in order to deny their electorates a chance to hear them and, also, to not allow themselves to participate in the affairs of this country? 

I need your serious ruling, Mr Speaker."

In my immediate reaction to the Point of Order, I reserved my ruling to enable me investigate the matter and render an informed ruling. I have since studied the matter and I am now ready to render my ruling.

Hon Members, as you are aware, due to the measures effected to avert the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, we are currently conducting business using a hybrid system. The system entails that only a few Members of Parliament are in the Chamber, while the rest are spread out in the Amphitheatre and seven (7) committee rooms. Namely, Amusaa Mwanamwambwa, Robinson Nabulyato, Fwanyanga Mulikita, Wesley Nyirenda, Thomas Williams, Committee Room 1 and Committee Room 5.  

Investigations conducted by my office revealed that, on the material day, all the UPND members in the Chamber, Amphi-theatre and four (4) Committee rooms walked out. In each of the remaining three (3) Committee rooms all but one (1) UPND member walked out.

Hon Members, the Point of Order, raises the issue of a Member or Members of Parliament walking out of the House as a form of protest. I must hasten to state, here, that this is not a novel subject, but one on which I have rendered several rulings in this House. I will, in this regard, not belabour the point suffice to say that a walk-out is a conventional means through which a Member or Members can express his/her or their displeasure on a matter before the House.

I also wish to point out that although, the practice of walk-outs is common in most parliaments worldwide, it has however, adverse effects.  Namely, it deprives the electorate of representation, during the subsistence of the walkout. 
In this regard, in a Ruling I rendered on Tuesday, 24th November, 2015, on a Point of Order that was raised by the erstwhile Hon Minister of Local Government and Housing, Hon S Kampyongo, MP, against UPND Members of Parliament on Thursday, 19th October, 2015 (National Assembly Parliamentary Debates of 18th September – 10th December, 2015, pages 1868-1871 I stated, inter alia, as follows:
“Let me hasten to point out from the outset, that while it is conventional for Members to walk out of the Chamber for political or other reasons, this practice, nevertheless, has the unfortunate tendency of denying the electorate their representation in the House.”

Therefore, Hon Members, I wish to reiterate that walk-outs, in themselves, do not amount to a breach of the Rules of the House or, indeed, parliamentary practice and procedure. Albeit, they deny the electorate of their representation in the House.

In view of this, the Hon Members of the UPND who walked out of the House were not out of order.

I thank you.