20A gets Cabinet nod; AG says two-thirds sufficient to be passed into law

 Justice Minister Ali Sabry

• Draft Bill presented to Cabinet by Justice Minister
• Cabinet nod to Gazette Bill and present it to Parliament
• AG says Bill does not require people’s approval at referendum but only 2/3rd majority in House
• 20A will replace 19A passed in May 2015 and restore scaled-down powers of Executive

By Chandani Kirinde

The Cabinet of Ministers approved the 20th Amendment (20A) to the Constitution last evening, hours after the Attorney General (AG) gave the go ahead to the draft Bill stating that none of its provisions require approval of the people at a referendum.

The draft Bill was submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers by Justice Minister Ali Sabry and Cabinet approval was granted to Gazette the Bill and present it to Parliament. It will be the first piece of legislation the new Government will place before Parliament.

It will be only after 14 days of publication in the Gazette that the Bill will be placed on the Order Paper of Parliament and thereafter referred to the Sectoral Oversight Committee for its consideration.

The Bill can be taken up for debate seven days after it is tabled in the House provided no petition is filed in the Supreme Court against it under Article 121 of the Constitution. In such an instance Parliament will have to await the determination of the Supreme Court to take it up for debate.

The AG said yesterday that while no provisions of the draft Bill are inconsistent with the Constitution, it requires the support of two-third of MPs when it is put to a vote in the House.

The 20th Amendment will replace the 19th Amendment to the Constitution which was enacted in May 2015 and while some of its provisions will be retained, the powers of the Executive which were scaled down by 19A will be restored even though the two-term limit on the presidency will remain. The other provisions of the 19th Amendment that will be retained include the five-year term limit on both the President and Parliament. Before 19A, both terms ran for six years.

The Right to Information which was included as a Fundamental Right by 19A too is to be retained. However, the composition and powers of some of the independent commissions are to be changed and some are likely to be abolished.