Need to bolster the legislature

THE Parliamentary Monitoring Group wants more resources to be directed to the legislature, after its report showed the national legislature had considered 173 bills and passed only 112 during this term.

The group compiled a report which showed, in the past five years, Parliament passed the highest number of bills in 2015, during which it passed 25. The number has since declined in 2019, to 22 bills.

Researcher Monique Doyle said Parliament needed better resourcing for its legislative functions.

“The recommendation is that the National Assembly Programming Committee ensures the legislative workload is prioritised, while chairpersons ensure legislation before their committee is prioritised,” said Doyle.

The study compared the number of bills passed from the year 2014 to 2019.

“In the Fifth Parliament, the national legislature exercised this authority by passing 112 bills and considered dozens more. By the time both Houses concluded their business, there were 39 bills left over. Practice dictates that the Sixth Parliament can revive any of these bills at any stage of its proceedings, as at the dissolution of the Fifth Parliament,” said Doyle.

According to the study, it takes 73 parliamentary work days to adopt a bill. Bills dealing with giving out money and tax bills are processed more quickly (26 working days) than other bills that take 80 working days.

“Looking at the figures in detail, one is able to calculate the adoption or efficiency percentage of the Fifth Parliament – this means the percentage of introduced bills successfully adopted by Parliament. The calculation finds the efficiency percentage of the Fifth Parliament to be 65%, in contrast to the Fourth Parliament, with an efficiency percentage of 87%,” said Doyle.

In the period between 2014 and 2019, about 21 bills were withdrawn or rejected.