Parliament was thrown into disorder when Lilongwe Likuni MP Kelvin Mphande halted proceedings to insist that reigning Miss Malawi Thandie Chisi, not first princess Ireen Navicha, should carry Malawi’s flag at the Miss World pageant. Mphande, banging his desk and chanting “Thandi must go!”, told the House the issue deserved national attention.
Speaker Sameer Suleman dismissed the intervention, ruling that decisions over beauty pageant representation do not fall under parliamentary business and directing the MP to pursue the matter through proper channels. The row comes amid public criticism of the Miss Malawi Organisation’s choice of Navicha, a decision organisers have defended on the grounds that Chisi is above Miss World’s maximum age limit of 26.
