MPs furious!
By MOHAMMED AL A’ALI
Published: 21st February 2007
A ROW blew up yesterday as MPs protested over the government’s alleged rejection of 25 out of 27 proposed laws put forward by parliament during its last four-year term.
It erupted as parliament secretary-general Nawar Al Mahmood revealed that the government had sent a letter, outlining 12 of its own proposed laws which it wanted parliament to complete discussion on.
MPs also heard that just two out of the 27 proposed laws forwarded to the government by parliament in the last session were being considered for approval.
MPs furious!
By MOHAMMED AL A’ALI
Published: 21st February 2007
A ROW blew up yesterday as MPs protested over the government’s alleged rejection of 25 out of 27 proposed laws put forward by parliament during its last four-year term.
It erupted as parliament secretary-general Nawar Al Mahmood revealed that the government had sent a letter, outlining 12 of its own proposed laws which it wanted parliament to complete discussion on.
MPs also heard that just two out of the 27 proposed laws forwarded to the government by parliament in the last session were being considered for approval.
The MPs were furious that the other 25 had apparently been rejected without any reference back to parliament.
Al Menbar MP Shaikh Mohammed Khalid Mohammed said that if the government wanted to throw out all the proposed laws, then it may as well dissolve parliament.
“We are tired of just being ignored and not considered in legislation,” he said.
Al Wefaq bloc MP Abdulhussein Al Metgawie said the government should either change the by-laws governing its relationship with parliament, or change the Constitution to ensure that parliament’s rights were respected
Al Menbar and Al Asala bloc members clashed with Minister of State for Parliament and Shura Council Affairs Abdulaziz Al Fadhel, who denied that the government was ignoring parliament.
Parliament first vice-chairman and Al Asala Bloc president Ghanim Al Buainain said MPs spent a lot of time preparing the proposed laws and if the government didn’t like them, they should have returned them back for further review.
“They have shelved most of our proposed laws, even without informing us within two months as stated in the Constitution, which I believe clearly reflects the co-operation we are receiving from the government,” he said.
“We had been promised that there would be no delays in responses, but what is shown here tells a different story.
“We are really tired of the government leaving us out of the equation, while we do our best to come up with proposals which the people want.”
Parliament second-vice-chairman and Al Menbar Bloc president Dr Salah Abdulrahman said that parliament’s by-laws needed to be changed to ensure the government co-operated with MPs.
“The problem is that they are not taking us seriously and this is why 25 of our laws were thrown away,” he said.
“There are flaws in our by-laws, there are problems, as the government is not co-operating.
“Without us knowing about the status of our previous proposals, I don’t think we can come up with more.”
Mr Al Fadhel said that the government had the right to reject a proposed law without going back to parliament for further discussion.
It also had the right to return for discussion any proposed law, within the same legislative quarter or the one immediately following.
“The government has been co-operating in every way possible with MPs, as ministers respond to questions, attend committee meetings and sessions whenever asked and we help provide MPs with legal assistance as they prepare amendments or propose laws,” he said.
Mr Al Fadhel later issued a statement urging full co-operation.
“We have done everything according to parliament’s by-laws (article 102) and ask MPs to discuss pending laws we sent to them in the last parliamentary session.
“The previous parliament proposed amendments to the traffic law, which they later left without discussions and we have withdrawn it, as we are going to bring in a new law.
“We have been dealing with proposed laws by parliament according to article 92 of the Constitution and article 119 of parliament’s by-laws and that’s accommodating whatever we believe is acceptable and leaving out what we don’t.
“This is backed by article 102 of parliament’s by-laws as it gives us the authority to decide if proposed laws should be considered or not.” “We instruct MPs to abide by the Constitution and the law to ensure co-operation.”
© Gulf Daily News
