Floor crossing was an unknown phenomenon in Malawi until the re-emergence of multiparty
politics in 1994. Since then the number of MPs crossing the floor in the Malawi National
Assembly has steadily increased from around twelve in 1994 to more than sixty in 2005. This
practice has continued even today. However, the biggest incident of floor crossing took place in
2005 when the State President, Dr Bingu wa Mutharika, under the United Democratic Front
(UDF) decided to abandon the party that sponsored him into office to form his own, the
Democratic Progressive Party in February, 2005. Following him were several opposition MPs, a
move which sparked a lot of tension in the National Assembly.
The purpose of this study was to investigate political factors contributing to this phenomenon,
and it was established that, among other factors, institutional weaknesses of political parties and
gaps in the Constitution contributed significantly to floor crossing. / Political Science / M.A. (African Politics)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/4833 |
| Date | 06 1900 |
| Creators | Maganga, Anne Grace |
| Contributors | Napier, Clive J. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | 1 online resource (v, 168 leaves : ill.), 1 online resource (v, 168 leaves), application/pdf |
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