09.06.2014
As part of the Scottish Parliament’s continuing links with Malawi, Liam McArthur MSP will undertake a four day visit beginning on Tuesday (10 June).
The visit is part of a post-election seminar which the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association is organising for the Members of the National Assembly of Malawi. Alongside colleagues from Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) branches of Uganda, Kenya and Zambia, Mr McArthur will deliver a seminar for all Members of the National Assembly on strengthening parliamentary democracy. Sessions will explore with new and returning Assembly Members parliamentarians’ experiences of working with the media, engaging with constituents, and holding governments to account.
Liam will also visit Minga Academy which is twinned with Sanday High School in Orkney. Liam was twinned with the former constituency MP for that area and hopes to meet the new incumbent with a view to continuing links.
Speaking ahead of the visit, Liam McArthur MSP said:
“The ongoing relationship which this Parliament has with colleagues in Malawi is something of which we can be rightly proud. We have worked closely with the National Assembly of Malawi over a number of years in order to contribute to parliamentary democracy and strengthen the institution of parliament by knowledge transfer and sharing good parliamentary practice.
“I am proud of the impact our work has had but there is still clearly more support we can give. I am looking forward to meeting with colleagues and discussing with them how parliamentary democracy can be developed.”
Background
The seminar will take place in Lilongwe from Wednesday 11 to Friday 13 June 2014. The costs of the visit are being met by the CPA Secretariat. A small contribution from the budget allocated to the CPA (Scotland) Branch by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) will be made of approximately £700.