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National Assembly has one month to finalise bills

The secretary of the National Council (NC), Tousy Namiseb, says the National Assembly (NA) will have to move swiftly to finalise remaining bills before 21 March, when president-elect Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah will be inaugurated.

The parliament will resume tomorrow, following a postponement to commemorate the late president Hage Geingob today.

Geingob died on 4 February last year.

Namiseb says February is a defining moment for outgoing members of parliament (MPs) who now have to ensure they debate and pass pending bills before new MPs are sworn in.

Speaking to The Namibian over the weekend, he expressed concern over whether there would be enough time to finalise bills, citing last year’s no-quorum saga, which led to a delay in some crucial bills being finalised.

“I have mixed feelings about how we will conclude the remaining session. Will there be a quorum throughout? Will they attend to bills on the table?” he asked.

Namiseb further expressed concern over the tabling of the budget by the minister of finance and public enterprises, Iipumbu Shiimi, which normally takes place early in February.

He said he doubted whether it would be done this time around, and if so, would the budget be considered expeditiously and forwarded to the NC for debate, he asked.

“It is really a wait-and-see moment, especially for this week.”

Namiseb said the NC is ready and waiting for bills to come, including the budget, but for now everything depends on the NA’s efficiency.

He said NC members will arrive next week to monitor the progress of the NA and position themselves accordingly.

Meanwhile, political analyst Henning Melber says given the huge backlog of unprocessed legislative matters, the parliament has to make some tough decisions.

“The handover to the next National Assembly will include a considerable package of unfinished business, and it remains to be seen how the new Cabinet and composition of lawmakers might influence the further handling.”

Melber says an interesting matter would be to see which bills would receive priority.

Another political analyst, Sacky Johannes, says February is not a good time, given the fact that time is limited before new MPs are sworn in.

He, however, hopes the August house passes the roads bill, the regional and constituency development fund bill, and the debate on the extraction of water from the Ohangwena region aquifer and northern regions in Namibia.

Various motions are also said to be on the agenda this week.

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