The National Assembly deliberated and adopted,
The President of the Republic enacts the law set out below :
Section 1 : The provisions under articles 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 26, 27, 32, 33, 36, 39, 41, 45, 46, 47, 49, 50, 51, 52, 54, 55, 57, 60, 61, 67, 72, 76, 77, 79, and 81 of law n° 73/1 of 8 June 1973 : standing orders of the National Assembly shall be amended and supplement as follows :
Article 2 (new) : The term of office of members of the National assembly shall commence on the opening day of the ordinary session following the election.
Article 3 (new) :
1) The National Assembly shall have exclusive jurisdiction in and over any matter pertaining to the eligibility of its members after the proclamation of parliamentary election results by the constitutional council.
2) a – For each list submitted to the verification boards, the verification of election members shall be decided on an individual basis.
b – For this purpose, the reports of the parliamentary election results communicated by the constitutional council to the secretary general of the national assembly, accompanied by documents in proof which must included a copy of the birth certificate or authenticated documents in lieu thereof, and a certificate of non-conviction of not more than three months old, submitted by the substantive candidates declared to have been elected shall be referred by the provisional bureau for examination to six verification boards composed of not more than thirty members each.
3) Election of members of the verification boards which must of necessity reflect the political learnings in the house shall take place, at a plenary session by majority list secret ballot by roll call from the rostrum. Blank and void ballots shall not be taken into account in calculating the majority. Where the absolute majority is not reached in the first ballot, a second ballot shall be organised. In the second case, a simple majority shall suffice. The verification boards shall be elected for the duration of the legislative period. In case of resignation, which may be ascertained by the President on grounds of incompatibility, the member shall be replaced by another candidate presented by his/her group of failing this, by his/her political party.
4) Each verification boards shall elect a chairman, a vice-chairman and two secretaries.
5) The verification boards shall appoint elected members to act as rapporteurs and shall proceed without delay to examine the documents in proof referred to in paragraph 2 (b) of this article.
6) Each board shall prepare a report of its proceedings. Members of the National Assembly may consult, on the spot, reports of Verification boards as well as documents submitted to them. At the termination of the legislative period such minutes and documents shall be deposited in the archives of the national assembly.
Article 4 (new):
1) Copies of the reports of the parliamentary election results as proclaimed by the constitutional council shall be distributed equally to the verification boards according to the alphabetical order of candidates declared elected.
2) Complaints shall be submitted to the eldest member at the commencement of the legislative period and to the President of the national assembly during the legislative period in the case of a by-election. The eldest member or the president shall refer them to the appropriate board.
3) The boards shall submit their findings to the national assembly within a maximum of five days. Consideration of their findings shall be automatically entered on the agenda of the sitting following the expiry of this period.
Article 5 (new) :
1) The reports of the verification boards shall be posted up and distributed:
a) Where the report of the board does not establish any case of ineligibility, it shall be adopted without debate in plenary sitting ;
b) Where the report of the board establishes a case of ineligibility, the national assembly, sitting in plenary, shall decide on the vacancy of the seat in accordance with the provisions of Article 22 of law n° 91/020 of 16 December 1991 as amended, or request a further enquiry where an amendment is made to the conclusions of the report.
2) Vacancy of the seat of a substantive candidate declared to have been elected, shall entail his replacement under the conditions spelt out in article 9 (2) of law n° 91/020 of 16 December 1991 to lay down the conditions for the election of members of the national assembly. The competent minister shall be notified immediately of the vacancy of the seat of the alternate member.
Article 6 (new) :
1) A committee shall conduct a further enquiry when so required by the plenary sitting of the national assembly.
2) The committee referred to in (1) above shall consist of the chairmen and secretaries of the six verification boards.
3) The elected member whose case is the subject of the enquiry may designate a member of the national assembly to sit on the committee, in an advisory capacity only.
4) After conducting the enquiry called for by the plenary sitting, the committee shall submit its findings to the national assembly within a period of fifteen days. A final vote shall then be taken on the case.
Article 7 (new) :
Elected members whose case is subject to enquiry following a decision of the National Assembly may not take part in voting on his case. He may not table private members bills, draft resolutions or amendments.
Article 9 (new) :
1) At the beginning of each legislative period, the national assembly shall meet as of right, in ordinary session, on the second Tuesday following the proclamation of the parliamentary election results by the constitutional council.
2) The national assembly shall hold three (3) ordinary sessions a year, each lasting not more than thirty (30) days. The legislative year of the national assembly, shall be aligned to the calendar year. The first ordinary session of the national assembly shall open in March, the second in June and the third in November. The opening date of each session shall be determined by an order of the bureau of the national assembly, after consultation with the President of the Republic.
3) The National assembly shall meet in extraordinary session for a period not more than fifteen (15) days on a given agenda at the request of the President of the Republic or of one-third of its members. The extraordinary session shall close as soon as the agenda is exhausted.
4) Both at the beginning of a legislative period and at the opening of the first ordinary session of the national assembly, the eldest member present and the two youngest members shall form the provisional bureau, which shall remain in office till the permanent bureau is elected.
5) a) With the exception of debate on verification taking place at the beginning or in the course of the legislative period, no debate or voting may take place under the chairmanship of the eldest member.
b) However, where, under the chairmanship of the eldest member the national assembly has to debate upon an item relating to its standing orders, and Ad hoc committee shall be set up accordingly. The members of such committee, appointed by the political parties represented in the national assembly, shall elect from among themselves a bureau comprising :
- a chairman ;
- a vice-chairman ;
- two secretaries ;
- a rapporteur.
The proposals of this committee shall be tabled before the whole house for adoption as a law. Such adoption shall be by absolute majority of sitting members of the National assembly.
Article 10 (new) :
1) At the first sitting of the first session of a legislative period, the eldest member shall inform the national assembly of the communication to him by the constitutional council of the report of the parliamentary election results and the names of the candidates declared to have been elected. At least one half plus one of those elected shall attend that sitting. The eldest member shall inform the national assembly that a quorum has been reached.
2) At the opening of each ordinary and extraordinary session, the eldest member or presiding officer, assisted by the two youngest members of the national assembly or one secretary as the case may be, and the secretary general of the national assembly, shall read the order convening the house in accordance with the provisions of article 9 (2) of the standing orders. The eldest member shall then declare the sitting open.
3) Upon verification of the presence of members of parliament as evidenced by their signatures on a register specially kept for that purpose, after ascertaining that the quorum required under article 35 below is reached, and following the reading of any announcements to the house, the president shall then take up the agenda.
4) At the beginning of a legislative period or of the first ordinary session of the legislative year of the national assembly, the bureau shall be elected from amongst the members of the national assembly only, as provided for in articles 11 and 12 below, before any debate takes place and subject to the provisions article 9 (6) a) above.
Article 11 (new) :
1) The bureau of the national assembly shall comprise :
- a president ;
- a senior vice-president ;
- five vice-president ;
- four questors ;
- twelve secretaries.
2) The secretary general of the national assembly shall be ex-officio member of the bureau.
Article 12 (new) :
1) The president of the national assembly shall be elected through a uninominal ballot by absolute majority of the valid votes cast. Failure to obtain an absolute majority in the first ballot, a second ballot shall be conducted for which a relative majority will suffire.
2) Two returning officers appointed by the eldest member shall count the votes and the eldest member shall announce the results.
3) The eldest member shall invite the president –elect to immediately take his seat.
4) The senior vice-president shall be elected through a uninominal ballot by absolute majority of the valid votes cast. Failure to obtain an absolute majority in the first ballot a second shall be conducted for which a relative majority will suffice.
5) Two returning officers appointed by the president of the national assembly shall count the votes and the president shall announce the results.
6) The vice-presidents other than the senior vice-president, secretaries and questors shall be elected at the same time and at the same plenary sitting by secret ballot through a majority of the valid votes cast on common list presented by the political parties represented in the national assembly.
7) The election referred to in paragraph 6 above shall seek to ensure, as much as possible, that the bureau reflects the political configuration of the national assembly, except some political parties decline to be part of it.
8) Members of the bureau shall be elected for one year, and shall be eligible for re-election. However, members of the permanent bureau of the national assembly elected during the session as of right shall remain in office until the election of the permanent bureau of the national assembly at the opening of the first ordinary session of the legislative year.
Chapter V : Groups
Article 15 (new) :
1) Members of the national assembly may form groups according to political party. No group shall consist of less than fifteen members, excluding members of the national assembly allied to them.
2) Groups shall be formed after submitting to the eldest member or to the president of the national assembly, a list of their members and the members of the national assembly allied to them as well as a joint public declaration signed by them to serve as a political plan of action.
3) No member of the national assembly may belong to more than one group.
4) Allied members shall be taken into consideration in calculating the number of seats to allocate to groups in the various committees provided for in the present standing orders of the national assembly.
5) Each group shall communicate the membership of its bureau to the president of the national assembly which shall comprise, one chairman, one vice-chairman and one secretary. The president of the national assembly shall be notified of any changes in the composition of a group, as signed by the chairman of the group and the signature of the member concerned and that of the chairman of the group in the case of membership or alliance. Such changes shall be announced to the national assembly by the President and shall be published in the official gazette of debates in English and French.
Article 16 (new) :
Each year, after the election of the permanent bureau, the national assembly shall set up nine (9) general committees each composed of twenty (20) members for consideration of matters referred to them.
a) committee on constitutional laws, human rights and freedoms, justice, legislation and standing orders, administration : constitution, standing orders, legal status of persons, justice, local government, etc.
b) committee on finance and the budget : budget, taxation, financial contributions, currency and credit etc.
c) Foreign affairs committee : treaties, international conventions, etc.
d) Committee on national defence and security, national defence, armed forces, gendarmerie, national security, military justice, fire brigade, etc.
e) Committee on economic affairs, planning and regional development : development plan, state lands, state corporations, town planning, equipment and public works etc.
f) Committee on education, vocational training, and the youth : primary, secondary and higher education, adult literacy, etc.
g) Committee on cultural, social and family affairs : culture, arts, information, communication, public health, recreational activities, social activities, social welfare, family, women, children, senior citizens.
h) Committee on production and trade : agriculture, livestock, forestry, hunting, fischeries, energy and industries, tourism, scientific research, consumption, domestic and foreign trade etc.
i) Committee on resolutions and petitions : consideration of draft resolutions, petitions, internal activities of the national assembly, inter-parliamentary relations of the national assembly etc.
However, considering the importance of a bill in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the nation, the chairmen’s conference may decide to submit such bill for consideration by the whole house.
Proceedings of the committee of the whole house shall be limited to general debate on the said bill whereas substantive debate and the final draft shall be left to the relevant general committee.
The president of the national assembly shall preside over the deliberations of the committee of the whole house.
The national assembly may set up ad hoc committee for specific purposes. The resolution to set up an ad hoc committee shall also lay down the procedure for the appointment of its members.
Committees may set up sub-committees. Committees and sub-committees may deliberate validly only during sessions.
Article 17 (new) :
Before setting up committees, group chairman shall communicate to the president of the national assembly, the electoral list of their members. The said list shall be posted up and published in the verbatim report and in the official gazette of debates.
Members of the national assembly who do not belong to any group may form an alliance with a group of their choice, subject to the consent of the bureau of that group to have their names appear on its electoral list.
Each group shall be entitled to such number of seats on each committee as is proportional to its numerical strength as shown in its electoral list.
The seats shall thus be allocated to the dully constituted groups under the conditions stipulated in section 15 here-above according to the rule of the highest average. After such distribution the remaining seats shall be allocated by the president of the national assembly to members of the national assembly who do not belong to any group.
Before the committees are set up, the group chairmen shall submit to the president of the national assembly, the lists of candidates drawn up by them.
After being posted up for a minimum period of twelve hours, the lists of candidates for committee membership shall be ratified by the national assembly if, before appointments are made, they have not given rise to objections on the part of at least fourteen members of the national assembly.
Objections and the reasons thereof shall be communicated in writing to the president of the national assembly and published in the verbatim report and in the official gazette of debates.
In the event of objections, the national assembly shall hold a vote by list system in plenary sitting, it being understood that the results of the ballot shall in no way modify the numerical representation of groups in committees.
The resignation or exclusion of a member from a group shall entail loss of the privileges which he enjoyed as a member of that group and in particular of his status as a member of the committee to which he had been appointed by his group. Any member expelled or who resigns shall be replaced by his group forthwith. No member of the national assembly may be a member of more than two general committees.
Article 19 (new) :
1) The chairmen’s conference shall refer to the relevant committee all matters which fall within its competence. The national assembly shall be informed at its next plenary sitting of any matters referred to committees.
2) The substantive study of a matter may be entrustred to only one committee ; other committee may ask to give their opinion on the same matter.
A committee entrusted with the substantive study of a matter shall appoint a rapporteur. Committees charged with giving and advisory opinion shall also appoint rapporteurs to express their opinions.
3) The opinion referred to under paragraph (2) above may be submitted to the chairman of the committee to which a matter has been entrusted for a substantive study.
Article 20 (new) :
1) Committees shall be convened at the behest of the secretary general of the national assembly.
2) Members of the national assembly who are not members of a given standing committee may not participate in the deliberations of the said committee.
3) Only members of the National Assembly appointed to sit on a committee may take the floor and vote during committee meetings.
4) Members of government may attend committee meetings when bills falling within the competence of their ministries are being debated. In addition, they shall be heard upon their request. They may be accompanied and assisted by their close collaborators.
5) The movers of proposals or amendments may be invited to attend meetings of the committee at which their text is being debated. They shall withdraw when a vote is being taken.
6) Amendments from members of the national assembly shall be inadmissible in committee once debate of the section has started.
7) The general rapporteur of the finance and the budget committee shall be heard by any committee examining a specific budget submitted to it for an advisory opinion.
Article 21 (new) :
1) No quorum shall be required for committee deliberations but the presence of more than half the members shall be required for valid votes to be taken.
2) Where this quorum is not reached before voting takes place the committee meeting shall be suspended for two (2) hours ; upon resumption, voting shall be valid even in the absence of a quorum, but such absence shall be recorded in committee’s report. Where a matter is submitted to the national assembly for examination in respect of which the emergency procedure is applied under article 44, the suspension of a committee meeting shall be for one hour only, no quorum shall be required upon its resumption. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 72 of the standing orders, the chairman of the committee may, after consulting the bureau of the committee, call to order a member of the national assembly who, through personal attacks and interruptions, impedes the smooth running of proceedings or free debate in committee.
When a committee member has been called to order three times during the same sitting, the chairman of that committee shall accordingly inform the President of the national assembly about it. The latter may mete out to such a committee member the disciplinary sanctions provided for under section 71 of the standing orders.
Article 22 (new) :
1) Committee decisions shall be taken by a simple majority of votes cast.
2) Voting in committee shall be by a show of hands or by standing. Only personal nominations or designations shall give rise to voting by secret ballot. In the even of a tie, the matter being put to the vote shall not be adopted.
3) Committee reports and opinions shall be adopted in committee prior to tabling before the bureau of the national assembly. They shall be distributed to the members of the national assembly.
Article 26 (new) :
1) a. Bills and draft resolutions submitted to the national assembly by the President of the Republic shall be tabled before the bureau of the house for onward transmission by the President of the national assembly to the chairmen’s conference which shall rule on their admissibility and shall refer them to a committee. The National assembly shall then be informed of its contents.
b) Private members’ bills and draft resolutions initiated by members of the national assembly shall be submitted in writing. They shall be forwarded to the President of the national assembly for onward transmission to the chairmen’s conference which shall rule on their admissibility refer them to the relevant general committee.
2) Government and private member’s bills may deal only with matters defined in article 26 of the constitution.
3) The chairmen’s conference shall decided on the admissibility of texts. In the case of disagreement between the government and the chairmen’s conference or of any doubt as to the admissibility of a text, the president of the republic, the President of the national assembly or one third (1/3) of the members of the national assembly shall refer the matter to the constitutional council which shall make a ruling thereon.
4) Pursuant to article 18 (3) a) of the constitution, no bill or amendment introduced by a member may be admissible which, if passed, would result the reduction of public funds or an increase of public charges without a corresponding reduction in other expenditure or the grant of equivalent new supply of funds.
5) Government and private member’s bill and draft resolutions shall be distributed to the member’s of the national assembly, and shall be referred to the relevant committee for consideration as provided under article 19 above. Such bills shall be registered in a general roll and numbered in the order in which they arrive, with an entry indicating the action taken thereon.
Article 27 (new) :
1) The national assembly’s agenda shall be drawn up by the chairmen’s conference.
2) The chairmen’s conference shall comprise : President of parliamentary groups, chairmen of standing committees and members of the bureau of the national assembly. A member of government shall take part in the deliberations of the chairmen’s conference. The president of the national assembly shall chair the chairmen’s conference.
3) The agenda of the national assembly shall comprise, in the order of priority laid down by the government the discussion of bills and private members bills declared admissible. Other private members bills retained by the chairmen’s conference shall be considered subsequently. Should a private member’s bill not be considered after two ordinary sessions such a bill shall automatically be considered as off right at the subsequent ordinary session.
Article 32 (new) :
1) The President of the republic may, at his request, address the national assembly in accordance with the provisions of section 32 of the constitution. He may also send to the national assembly messages to be read by the prime minister or another member of government.
2) Members of government shall attend sittings where the agenda includes bills falling within their competence. Such members of government may be represented by another member of government in cases of unavoidable absence.
3) Members of government may be assisted by their close collaborators.
Article 33 (new) :
Plenary sittings of the national assembly shall be public.
However, the national assembly may exceptionally decide by a majority of votes cast and without debate, to meet in close sitting at the request of the government or of an absolute majority of its members in accordance with section 17 of the constitution.
Article 36 (new) : Verbatim reports of sittings shall be distributed to members of the national assembly at least one hour prior to the sitting at which they are to be adopted. The verbatim records of the last sitting of a session shall be adopted at that sitting prior to adjournment.
The minutes of each sitting shall be signed by the president and secretaries and deposited in quadruplicate in the archives of the national assembly. Minutes of sittings shall be published by the secretariat general of the national assembly.
Article 39 (new) : No member of the national assembly may speak until he has requested and been given the floor by the President, even if, exceptionally, he has been authorised by a speaker to interrupt.
The names of members of the national assembly who request the floor shall be listed in the
order in which their request are made ; they may relinquish their turn to speak to one of their fellow-members or reverse the order in which they have been listed. The time allowed for any speaker to address the house shall be limited to ten (10) minutes. However, the president of the national assembly may, bearing in mind the number of speakers wishing to take the floor, decide to limit the said time to thirty (30) minutes per parliamentary group.
Members shall take the floor from the rostrum. Should a member speak without having been given the floor or should be continue to speak after the President has requested him to withdraw, the president may decide that his remarks shall not be recorded in the minutes. Speakers must not depart from the items under discussion ; should they do so, the president shall recall them to the point. Should a speaker fail to comply, the president may decide that his remarks shall not be recorded in the minutes. In the event of persistence, the president may call him to order.
Any speaker who declines to leave the rostrum after having been requested to do so by the president may be called to order, with a record thereof in the minutes and, if necessary may be made the subject of a vote of censure, or even be expelled temporarily as provided for under article 71 of the standing orders.
Article 41 (new) :
1) chairmen and rapporteurs of relevant committees as well as members of government, shall be given the floor upon request.
A member of the national assembly may always be given the floor in order to reply.
2) Apart from the cases provided for under paragraph one (1) above, members of the national assembly who are members of the committee concerned may not take the floor during the general debate in plenary.
Article 43 (new) : The president or any member of the national assembly may propose closure of debate when at least two speakers of opposing views have dealt with the substance of the matter.
When a member wishes to speak against the closure of a debate, the right to do so may be granted for three (3) minutes and only to a single speaker who must confine himself to that purpose. The first member still listed to speak shall be given priority to speak against the closure. Should the request for closure be rejected by the national assembly, the debate shall continue , but in the event of a further motion for closure, a decision shall be reached in accordance with the above provisions.
Article 45 (new) : In principle, government and private member’s bill or draft resolutions shall be discussed only once in open sitting. The rapporteur of the advisory committee shall present his report before that of the rapporteur of the committee for substantive study. When the rapporteur of the committee to which a matter has been submitted for a substantive study has presented his report then, and only then, may any member of the national assembly raise a preliminary objection with a view to deciding that there is no need for debate. He may state his case orally, whereupon only the chairman or the rapporteur of the committee to which the matter has been referred for substantive study and the competent minister on the government bench may speak. Only the mover of a preliminary objection may avail himself of the right granted under article 41 (2) above. Where the preliminary objection is adopted, the bill shall be rejected ; where it is turned down, the report shall then be debated.
Article 46 (new) : A general debate shall be held on government and private member’s bills or draft resolutions. In the course of the general debate, and until it is closed, interlocutory motions may be tabled with a view either to adjourning the debate until certain conditions have been fulfilled or referring back to the committee entrusted with the substantive study of the matter, or to another committee for advisory opinion. The debate on interlocutory motions shall be held in accordance with the procedure laid down in the preceding article for the preliminary objection. However further referral to the committee charged with the substantive study shall be as of right if such committee of the government so requests or accepts. Where the general debate has been closed, the president shall consult the national assembly with regard to proceeding to debate on the sections of the bill.
Where the committee’s findings are in favour of rejecting the bill, the president of the national assembly shall out such rejection to the vote immediately after the general debate has been closed. Where the rapporteur of the committee does not submit a report or the committee has no conclusions to submit, the plenary sitting shall be called upon to decide whether the sections
of the text of the bill or of the draft are to be debated. In all cases in which the plenary sitting decides not to proceed with the debate of the sections, the President shall declare that the bill has not been adopted. When it is decided to proceed with the debate on the sections, any proposed alternative texts that may have been submitted shall be examined. Proposed alternative texts constitute amendments to the entire bill under debate. They may only be referred to the plenary sitting if deemed admissible by the chairmen’s conference and if they had been previously submitted to the appropriate committee. The plenary sitting may be consulted only as to whether they should be taken into consideration or not ; in the affirmative, the proposed alternative text shall be referred to the committee, which shall take it as a basis for debate and submit a new report within whatever period the plenary sitting may decide.
After the plenary sitting has decided to hold a debate on the sections and in the event of rejection of any proposed alternative text, consideration and debate on the text shall deal with each section in turn and with any amendments thereto, in accordance with the provisions of the article below.
The bill or draft resolution considered in plenary sitting shall be the next submitted by the President of the Republic. The private member’s bill considered in plenary sitting shall be the text drawn up by the mover (s) thereof. However, when an amendment is moved on the entire private member’s bill, the plenary sitting shall deliberate on the text submitted by the committee. The draft resolution scrutinised in plenary shall be the text submitted by the committee. Each chapter of the budget shall be discussed separately. After all the sections have been put to the vote, a vote shall be taken on the bill as a whole. In the case of a bill containing only one article, to which no additional article has been submitted, the vote on the single article shall constitute a vote on the text as a whole and no additional article may be submitted.
Before a vote is taken on the text as a whole, members may make brief statements on their voting for not more than three minutes. The provisions of articles 43 shall apply to such statements.
Article 47 (new) :
1) Proposed alternative texts and amendments shall be submitted in writing to the bureau of the national assembly and referred by the president of the national assembly to thechairmen’s conference which shall rule on their admissibility. They shall subsequently be committed to the competent committee and where possible, printed and distributed.
2) Amendments shall be submitted in writing to the bureau of the national assembly. They
shall contain a brief summary of reasons and shall be signed by the mover. They shall be referred to the competent committee by the president of the national assembly and where possible, printed and distributed.
3) Amendments shall be admissible only if they have a bearing on the text under debate or, in the case of alternative texts and additional articles, where they are proposed within the framework of such text. In controversial cases, the constitutional council shall rule on their admissibility in accordance with the provisions of article 6 of the standing order. Amendments shall likewise be admissible only if they have been previously submitted to the competent committee. Besides the cases provided for in paragraphs (1) and (2) of this article, only the following amendments may be entertained at public sittings :
a) Amendments on which debate is accepted by the government or by the committee to which they were referred for substantive study.
b) Amendments tabled on behalf of the committee to which a text has been referred for advisory opinion provided that they shall first be submitted to the committee to which it was previously referred for substantive study.
c) Amendments tabled by the government.
d) Amendments directly related to provisions modified by the national assembly during debate provided they are accepted by government or by the committee to which the text was referred for substantive study.
Article 49 (new) : Before a vote is taken on a bill or private member’s bill as a whole, the plenary sitting may, at the request of a member, decide to either open another round of debate or to refer the text back to the committee for substantive study for review and harmonisation. Another round of debate or a further referral back to the committee for substantive study shall be as of right where the committee so request or agrees. In the even of another round of debate, the text adopted after the first round of debate shall be referred back to the committee which shall present a new report. In the course of its second debate, the national assembly shall deal only with the new text proposed by the committee or with the committee amendments to the previously adopted text.
Where a text is referred back to a committee for review and harmonisation, the committee’s conclusions shall be presented without delay. They shall be read to the national assembly and debate shall focus on the drafting only. The texts adopted by the national assembly shall be forwarded to the president of the republic in accordance with the relevant provisions of the constitution.
Article 50 (new) : At any time prior to promulgation, the president of the republic may request a second reading of any text adopted by the national assembly. Such request for a second reading shall be made within fifteen days following the transmission of the text to the President of the republic by the president of the national assembly.
For the purpose of a second reading, the national assembly shall follow the same procedure as for the first reading. Adoption of the text on second reading shall be by absolute majority of members of the national assembly.
The president of the republic shall promulgate into law the bills adopted by the national assembly within fifteen days of transmission if he does not request a second reading. Should he not act within this time-limit, the president of the national assembly may act in his stead. In all cases, laws shall be published in the two officials languages of the republic.
Article 51 (new) :
1) Regarding questions submitted to the national assembly, adoption or rejection of a section, amendment, proposed alternative text, motion or of a complete draft, the president shall ask whether there is any objection. Where there is no objection, the article, amendment, proposed alternative text, motion or complete text which is the subject of the question shall be adopted.
Where there is an objection, the president shall call upon the national assembly to vote by show of hands or by standing.
2) Voting by show of hands shall be the ordinary form of voting at the national assembly. In case of doubt on the outcome of the vote by show of hands, a vote by standing shall be conducted.
Should the doubt persists, voting by standing shall be conducted as per political party represented in the national assembly. No member of the national assembly may be given the floor during a vote or in between various ballots.
3) Secretaries assisted by the secretary general of the national assembly shall then count the votes cast.
4) The president shall announce the results of the vote to the national assembly by stating the number of votes “for”, the number “against” and the number of abstentions. He then shall declare : “the national assembly has adopted” or “the national assembly has not adopted”.
Article 52 (new) : Voting by show of hands or by standing shall be the ordinary form of voting except in cases otherwise provided for in the constitution.
Secret ballots shall, in all cases, be held for the election of office bearers and for the disciplinary measures provided for under article 73 of the standing orders.
For the purpose of the secret ballot, green, red and yellow ballot papers shall be distributed to members. Each member shall insert in a ballot box, presented to him by an usher, an envelope containing a green ballot paper if he is in favour of the proposal, a red ballot paper if he is against, or a yellow ballot paper if he abstains. When all the ballot papers have been collected, the president shall announce the closure of the ballot. The secretaries shall then count the votes and the president shall proclaim the results by announcing. “The national assembly has adopted” or “the national assembly has not adopted”.
Article 54 (new) : For the purpose of open ballots green, red and yellow ballot paper shall be distributed to each member bearing his/her name. Each member shall insert in the ballot-box presented to him by an usher at the request of the secretary general an envelope containing a green ballot paper if he is in favour, a red ballot paper if he is against, and a yellow ballot paper if he wishes to abstain.
When all the ballot papers have been collected, the president shall announce the closure of the ballot.
The secretaries shall then count the votes, with the assistance of two tellers chosen by the president from amongst members of the national assembly who are not member of the bureau, if possible, choosing one of them amongst the member of the government majority and the other from amongst the members of the opposition. The president shall declare the result of the ballot by announcing to the national assembly the number of “ayes”, “nays” and abstentions. He shall then announce that “the national assembly has adopted” or that “the national assembly has not adopted”.
The secretary general shall then read out the names of the members of the national assembly who took part in the ballot and shall state the manner in which they voted.
Article 55 (new) : Questions put to the vote shall be declared to have been adopted only if they have been carried by a simple majority of votes cast, except otherwise stipulated by the constitution. In the event of a tie, the question shall be rejected.
Article 57 (new) : Proxies shall be written and signed by the giver of the proxy and addressed to the holder of the proxy. To be valid, proxies shall be sent to the president of the national assembly by the group chairman or failing this, by the giver of the proxy before the vote or before the first vote in which the giver of the proxy is unable to take part. The notification shall indicate the name of the member of the national assembly who is to vote in the stead of the giver of the proxy, and the reasons which prevent the giver of the proxy from voting.
The proxy and notification thereof shall also indicate the period during which the giver of the proxy shall be unable to vote. Proxies may be withdrawn following the same procedure during the period of validity. In cases of emergency, a proxy and notification thereof may be sent by a facsimile subject to confirmation in the manner indicated above.
Article 60 (new) : Members of the national assembly may, in accordance with the provisions of article 35 of the constitution, put oral or written questions to members of government on the activities of their ministries.
Any member of the national assembly who wishes to put oral or written questions to the government shall submit them to the president of the national assembly accordingly and refer them to the competent minister. Questions shall be drafted very concisely. They shall not contain any charges against third parties mentioned by name.
Oral questions shall be entered in a special record in the orther of their submission. Members of government shall reply to questions within fifteen days. During session, this period shall be reduced to three days. Should documentary research work involved in answering questions take up too much time, the member of government concerned shall inform the author of the questions accordingly through the president of the national assembly. He shall then have another three days to complete the documentary research, but during sessions, the supplementary period shall be reduced to two days.
If no answer has been given to a written question within the above mentioned periods, the president of the national assembly shall ask the author of the question whether or not he wishes to convert his written question into an oral question. Where the author refuses to change the question, the member of government concerned shall have not more than two additional days to answer the written question. Written question and answers thereto, as well as oral questions shall be recorded at the end of the verbatim reports of the debates of the national assembly.
Article 61 (new) : At the request of the chairmen’s conference, oral questions shall be given priority at one sitting each week. Inclusion of the oral questions in the agenda shall be decided by the chairmen’s conference. The competent minister and the author of the question alone may speak; The author of the question alone may appoint one of his fellow members to deputise for him. Speakers shall strictly limit their explanations to the subject matter of the question and may not hold the floor for more than three minutes.
Should the competent minister be absent when questions are put in public sitting, they shall be carried over to the agenda of the following meeting. Ministers shall have the right to state in writing that, on grounds of public interest, they are precluded from answering or, in exceptional cases, that they require more time to prepare their reply. Such additional time shall not exceed eight days. Where a minister is absent on two consecutive occasions and a question has to be put a third time in open meeting, and the minister is again absent without having answered the question in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraphs, the author may speak to his question forthwith for a period of not more than twenty minutes which may be closed by tabling a draft resolution ; such draft resolution shall subsequently be examined first by the committee concerned and then by the plenary sitting according to ordinary procedure. Ministers shall answer oral questions orally and written questions in writing.
Article 67 (new) :
1) The National assembly, by virtue of section 35 (1) of the constitution, may adopt a resolution to set up a committee of enquiry. Such resolution shall be tabled before the bureau of the national assembly in accordance with the provisions of article 26 of these standing orders.
The draft resolution referred to above shall spell out the reasons for the enquiry or the public services whose management the committee shall investigate under the conditions laid down under sub (3) a and b of this article. Law n° 91/029 of 16 December 1991 lays down the conditions for the functioning of committees of enquiry.
2) The national assembly may, by a majority decision, and at the request of the committee, grant the said committees powers to enquire into matters within their jurisdiction. Request for powers of enquiry shall be addressed to the president of the national assembly who shall communicate them to the national assembly. They shall be entered on the agenda of the national assembly, if the chairmen’s conference so decides.
3) Committees of enquiry shall be established :
a) to gather information concerning specific facts and submit their findings to the national assembly which appointed them ;
b) to examine the administrative, financial or technical management of public services with a view to inform the national assembly of their findings. Where legal proceedings have been instituted, no committee of enquiry may be set up while such proceedings are being held. Where a committee has already been established, its duties shall terminate as soon as a judicial enquiry is opened into the case for which it was set up. Members of committee of enquiry shall be appointed by single list ballot. Committees of enquiry shall be of a provisional nature. Their duties shall terminate with the submission of their report not later than four months from the date on which the resolution on their establishment was adopted. They may not be reappointed for the same purpose until a period of twelve months has elapsed after termination of their duties.
Any member of a committee of enquiry or any person taking part in the working of such a committee in any capacity shall be bound by secrecy. Any beach of this provision shall be punishable in accordance with legislation governing official secrets.
The publication, in whole or in part, of the report of a committee of enquiry may be decided by special vote of the national assembly or the committee concerned. Any person publishing information relating to the work, proceedings acts or unpublished reports of committees of enquiry shall be liable to punishment in accordance with legislation governing official secrets.
Article 72 (new) : Only the president of the national assembly may call a member to order. Any member who refuses to perform a duty assigned by the president of the national assembly, the eldest member or any organ of the national called to order. Any member causing a disturbance in the national assembly by interruption personal attack or in any other way shall be liable to be called to order. Any member causing a disturbance in the national assembly by interruption, personal attack or in any other way shall be liable to be called to order. Any member called to order complies and request an opportunity to justify himself shall be given the floor.
Where a member has been called to order twice during the same sitting, the president after granting him the floor to justify himself if so requested, shall call upon the national assembly to decide without further debate whether the member may be heard afresh on the same matter. The call to order with entry in the minutes may be applied by the president against any member who :
- has been called to order three times during the same meeting or consecutive meetings ;
- has been called to order three times in committee by the chairman of the committee in accordance with the provisions of article 21 (2) of these standing orders.
Article 76 (new) : On the proposal of the secretary general, the president of the national assembly, in agreement with the bureau, shall determine the detailed organization of its services. The bureau shall define the staff regulations governing national assembly civil servants who, in that capacity, shall be deemed civil servants of the state.
The committee on finance and the budget, sitting as a budgetary audit committee, shall examine the budget of the national assembly submitted to it by the bureau as a draft drawn up by the questors.
That budget shall be in tow parts : current expenditure and capital expenditure. After the committee on finance and the budget has voted the budget of the national assembly, it shall be included ipso facto in the general state budget. It shall be approved by the plenary sitting, when the general budget is being debated and voted. The committee on finance and the budget, sitting as a budgetary audit committee, shall audit the use of the vote allocated to the national assembly. The annual administrative accounts prepared by the authorising officer, the stores accounts by the storekeepers, the management accounts of the accountant shall, together with the estimates for the ensuing budgetary year, be submitted to the committee on finance and the budget, sitting as a budgetary audit committee. At the end of each financial year, the committee shall report on the mandate that has been entrusted to it by the national assembly.
Article 77 (new) : The ceremonial privileges which may be enjoyed by the president of the national assembly and the members of the bureau within Cameroon and those which may be enjoyed by the members of the national assembly in their provinces shall be prescribed by decree. Members of the national assembly shall receive, each month, a basic parliamentary allowance and a special allowance known as “parliamentary expenses allowance”. With the exception of the pensioners, any civil servant elected to the national assembly and members of the national assembly appointed to a remunerated office in the public service or in a public corporation after their election, may not concurrently draw the basic parliamentary allowance and the emoluments accruing to their office. Where the salary of an official is lower than basic parliamentary allowance, the member shall earn such salary together with the parliamentary expenses allowance for the duration of his term of office. Where the salary is higher than the basic parliamentary allowance, the members shall be paid such salary together. with the parliamentary expenses allowances by the secretary general of the national assembly.
In any case, public servants shall retain their pension rights as though they had continued to draw their salary in full without interruption. The salaries covered by the preceding paragraphs shall include for all officials, whether civil or military, the total amount of salaries and subsidiary allowances of all kinds that are subject to deductions by the treasury in respect of pensions and granted under the regulations governing officials in active service list as well as the family supplement and family allowances provided for by the laws in force.
The eldest member, the two youngest members and committee bureau members and the general rapporteur of the finance committee shall earn a session allowance the amount and conditions of payment of which shall be determined by the bureau.
The special parliamentary expenses allowance, the session allowance payable to the elder member, the two youngest members, committee bureaux members, the general rapporteur of the finance committee, and in the case of members of the bureau of the national assembly, and members of the bureaux of parliamentary groups, duty or entertainment allowance, shall neither be distrainable nor taxable.
The basic parliamentary allowance, the special parliamentary expenses allowance and the special duty or entertainment allowances payable to the members of the bureau shall be payable monthly by the secretary general of the national assembly, under the same conditions as the salaries and fringe benefits of officials.
Settlement of the national assembly expenditure shall be effected by an accounting officer appointed by bureau order. The Questors shall prepare the draft budget of the national assembly for submission to the bureau before it is examined and voted by the finance committee sitting as a budgetary audit committee as provided for under article 76. They shall report upon this draft budget to the committee of finance and the budget. The questors shall control the finances of the national assembly. For this purpose, the accountant shall provide them with all necessary accounting records and vouchers they may need to carry out the control.
They may, in the exercise of their duties, and should the need arise, secure the services of a state inspector in the bureau of the national assembly so requests. The practical terms and conditions for the implementation of the budget of the national assembly shall be determined by bureau order.
Article 79 (new) :
1) The president, the vice-president and the questors shall be entitled to official residences, means of transport and domestic staff whose number shall be determined by bureau order.
2) Group chairmen shall have the rank and enjoy the privileges of vice-president.
3) Group vice-chairmen shall have the rank and enjoy the privileges of questors.
4) Group secretaries shall have the rank an enjoy the privileges of secretary of the bureau of the national assembly.
5) Parliamentary group bureaux shall be entitled to office premises and a secretariat the composition of which shall be defined by bureau order.
6) The amounts of the special duty allowance, entertainment allowance and mission allowances payable to the members of the bureau shall be determined by bureau order.
7) The allowances, benefits in kind and the parliamentary precedence of the group chairmen shall be determined by the bureau.
Article 81 (new) : Insignia of office shall be worn by members of the national assembly and the ex-officio member of the bureau of the national assembly when they are on mission, at public ceremonies and all occasions when it is incumbent on them to make their status known. The design of such insignia shall be determined by the bureau of the national assembly.
Section 2 : This law shall be enacted through the procedure or urgency and published in the official gazette in English and French.
Yaounde, 2nd December 2002
Paul BIYA
President of the Republic
