The National Council after much deliberation withdraws the Impeachment Procedure Bill of Bhutan 2019. The Bill was withdrawn following National Assembly’s request to the National Council to withdraw the bill in accordance with section 18 of the legislative rules of procedure 2017.
The section states that a Bill passed by one House may be withdrawn by the other House on the grounds of, but not limited to, the legislative proposal covered in the Bill being dropped or a more comprehensive Bill on the same subject being proposed at a later date. The House also gave out other reasons.
The Impeachment Procedure Bill of Bhutan 2019 which was passed in the 23rd session of the National Council last year was forwarded to the National Assembly for deliberation this session. The Bill, however, was rejected in the first reading itself in January this year by the National Assembly with a show of hands justifying that not all provisions of the Constitution are implemented.
Therefore, to establish parliamentary procedures and practices to harmoniously resolve differences, the Chairperson of the National Council agreed to meet and discuss the issue with the Speaker of the National Assembly last month. Despite this effort, the National Assembly again refused to discuss the Bill and according to the National Council, it failed to complete the full legislative process.
The House cited that the adoption of the Impeachment Procedure Bill of Bhutan 2019 is as per article 32.5 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan requiring Parliament to frame a law to ensure accountability of the holders of constitutionals offices.
Withdrawing the Bill today, the chairperson of the Natural Resources and Environment Committee said that a legislative rules of procedure have to be complete and followed which the National Assembly did not.
“We can seek an approval of His Majesty The King for convening a joint session but one of the Houses did not even bother to discuss the Bill and dismissed it in the first reading, it doesn’t look nice. The harmony between the two Houses is important for decision making. Beyond Impeachment Bill, we also foresee emergence of larger constitutional, legal and procedural issues that need to be discussed and addressed as a result of the recent position and decision of the National Assembly including the one on the Ministers and Equivalent Post Holder’s Entitlement Bill,” said Tashi Samdrup, the Chairperson of Natural Resources and Environment Committee.
He added that the Bill can be reintroduced in the future by clearly following legislative rules of procedure and after clearing differences between the two Houses.
Samten Dolkar
