New Powers for Opposition Within the Parliamentary Internal Rules

The preliminary report on the draft internal rules of the National People’s Assembly detailed the powers of the parliamentary opposition by granting it the right, for the first time, to organize a monthly session of the Assembly, which deals with questions and issues that fall within Parliament’s jurisdiction from a constitutional standpoint, provided that the President of the Assembly is notified of the date of its meeting 10 days in advance.

Although these powers were originally included in the constitution, they are absent in the internal rules of the National People’s Assembly, which prompted the preparers of the preliminary report for the new draft to reactivate them, through Article 96, which stipulates the right of opposition to hold a monthly session to discuss a specific agenda, provided that it must constitutionally address issues or files that fall within the Council’s jurisdiction, and under the condition that it does not engage in the points included in the agenda of the parliamentary session.

The draft preliminary report requires the parliamentary opposition to submit a request to hold the monthly session by the Speaker of the Council, 10 days before the specified date, with the Council office deciding on the request within 48 hours. If the office refuses to hold the session, the decision will be justified and notified to the head of the parliamentary group or bloc.

The report also specifies how to present and discuss the opposition’s agenda in agreement between the Council’s office and the concerned group.

Nevertheless, the preliminary report on the draft, which had already been withdrawn in the previous session, under the pretext of re-reviewing it with the MPs and enriching its content, reconsiders the methods of sending a temporary information committee to investigate some files, as Article 60 stipulated that the request to form the information mission be submitted to the Council’s office to decide on it at least 20 days before the proposed date of dispatching this mission, accompanied by a presentation of reasons on the specific topic or situation and a detailed program for the mission.

In case of urgency, the request must be justified and submitted to the President of the Council for a decision within 5 days. According to the report, one information mission must not include more than 3 Wilayas and must not exceed 6 working days.

Article 61 stipulates that it is prohibited to organize an information mission during meetings of the relevant permanent committees, general discussion sessions, or voting sessions, except when necessary and after the approval of the Council’s office. If the request is accepted, the President of the Council or the Prime Minister will be informed of the decision to form the temporary information mission and its destination. In case of rejection: The Council’s Office must justify the decision.

As for the issue of accepting MPs’ proposals for draft laws, which has sparked controversy recently, Article 79 of the preliminary report of the bylaws clarifies that the Council’s office is obligated to decide on the extent of acceptance of the draft within one month from the date of its submission, and if the Council’s office does not accept the proposed law, the rejection shall be justified. Then, the MP who proposes the law shall be informed.

If the government does not express its opinion within two months from the date of notification, the Council shall refer the law proposal to the competent committee for further study.