Following President Lazarus Chakwera’s move to appear in Parliament to answer questions from the members, political analysts have warned the legislatures against taking advantage of the development to score their political mileage.

The analysts have therefore challenged the legislatures to utilize this opportunity by engaging the Head of State on matters of public interest.

A political analyst from Chancellor college, Ernest Thindwa, said this is a great opportunity for the legislatures to hold the administration accountable while representing the needs of their electorates.

Thindwa said: “MPs must use this opportunity to engage the President by ensuring that the executive is prioritizing areas that are most important to the citizens, rather than using it to score their political gains.”

Another political analyst, Happy Kayuni, shared the views of Thindwa saying all the heads of state in the past have failed to provide a platform for the people to hold them accountable.

“What we have been experiencing in the past is that the president would only address the masses through public rallies and press conferences where by the environment in such meetings is usually characterized by politics, a development which is not conducive for people to hold the leaders accountable,” he said.

He further highlighted that the neutrality of the August house will assist the legislatures to ask questions freely.

However, both analysts have commended Chakwera for fulfilling his commitment to appear before parliament to answer questions from MPs on his State of Nation Address (SONA).

According to State House Press Secretary, Brian Banda, Chakwera is expected to appear before the Parliament on Thursday from 2 pm.