body-container-line-1
30.06.2016 Politics

November 7 Election Bill Lands In Parliament

30.06.2016 LISTEN
By Daily Guide

The new Constitutional (Amendment) Bill, 2016 for the general election on November 7 was brought to Parliament yesterday for its first reading after meeting the constitutional requirement of three months gazetting -between March 3, 2016 and June 15, 2016.

The bill was presented for first reading by the Deputy Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine, on behalf of the Attorney General, Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong.

Before the first reading, which would also need 10 days after the second gazetting, the Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho, had told Members of Parliament (MPs) that after the first reading the bill would have to be forwarded to the Council of State for its consideration and advice, after which it would be brought back to the House for the second and the third readings.

The constitutional requirement, according to Article 291 Clause 2 of the 1992 Constitution, is that when the bill is forwarded to the Council of State after its first reading, the Council will render the advice within 30 days; meaning that the bill will come back to Parliament on July 28.

Article 291 Clause 3 says that after Parliament has approved the bill by two-thirds majority, it may only be presented to the President of the Republic for his assent.

.
The president, according to the same Article, having satisfied himself with the content of the bill, will also give his full assent for the bill to become law.

Just after the first reading of the much-awaited bill, which will give full legal backing to the proposed November 7 general election, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Sekondi, Papa Owusu-Ankomah, asked the speaker to ensure that copies of the bill were immediately given to members of the House for critical study.

He explained that such a constitutional amendment bill was so important that members would need to have time to scrutinise it to enable them contribute effectively to its passage.

Mr Doe Adjaho gave the assurance that copies would soon be made available to members, adding that he had instructed the Table Office to provide members with copies.

Some MPs on the minority side have expressed reservations about the possibility of the bill being passed in time for the elections to take place on November 7, with the NPP MP for Atwima Nwabiagya North, Benito Owusu-Bio, indicating that the Abu Ramadan case in court over the credibility of the voter register could delay the passage of the bill because the nation will have to be satisfied with the register before the elections take place.

By Thomas Fosu Jnr

body-container-line