Senators and MPs
Palais du Peuple
August 12, 2011
Photo: John Bompengo/Radio Okapi
(UPDATE AT BOTTOM OF POST)
August 15. The passage by the Senate of what was called in the National Assembly Annex to the Electoral Law didn’t end the conflict between the two chambers. Before passing the legislative proposal, the Senate changed its title from “Annex to the Electoral Law” to “Law pertaining to the succession and repartition of electoral constituencies.”
And the conflict came out in the open at the Joint Commission Senate-National Assembly charged with harmonizing the language between the two houses.
Radio Okapi reports that the issue in contention at the Joint Commission is just that: the title of the legislative project. Senators maintain that a new law can’t be an annex to another law; whereas deputies beg to disagree.
In the meantime, time is running out. I hope that by the time of the posting the issue would have been resolved. This is a developing story: an update is to follow as soon as there’s a new development.
UPDATE:
TUESDAY AUGUST 16. The Joint Commission finally agreed on a harmonized the text of the two chambers. The Senate prevailed on the squabble over the title of the legislative proposal. The new legislative proposal is entitled "Legislative Proposal pertaining to the Repartition of Seats by Electoral Constituencies for Legislative and Provincial Elections."
The new legislative proposal was then submitted to a vote in the lower chamber. This time around, 417 MPs out of the full house of 500 were present--with 399 voting for the proposal, 13 against it, and 5 abstentions.
The next step will be for the President of the Republic to sign the proposal into law...
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