The National Assembly has forwarded the Marriage (Amendment) Bill and the National Assembly (Amendment) Bill for re-deliberation in the joint sitting. The two Bills were submitted as disputed Bills by the National Assembly today. Meanwhile, the House approved the changes made to the Cattle Tax Exemption Bill.
The National Assembly has submitted the National Assembly (Amendment) Bill as a disputed Bill for the joint sitting. According to the legislative committee of the National Assembly, the National Council has rejected sections that were forwarded with robust discussions from the House. Besides slight changes in spellings and additional contents in nine total amendments, two sections were rejected although the National Assembly forwarded it without amending them in English.
Sangay Khandu, Deputy Speaker of National Assembly said “The National Council has cancelled some important strategies and guidelines. Even the House Committee’s internal discussions could not approve them. I also cannot approve of this. Therefore, further discussion is required as per the laws and procedures in the next joint sitting.”
The National Assembly also decided to submit the Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2024 as a disputed bill for the joint sitting. The National Assembly had initially forwarded the Bill to the National Council during the summer session, proposing to raise the marriageable age to 18 for females. However, the National Council proposed 26 additional provisions and deliberated on them. The NC decided not to pass the Bill last week, resulting in the Bill to return to the National Assembly.
Kuenga, Chairperson of Legislative Committee of the National Assembly said “Regarding the 26 provisions, the committee discussed that these provisions were not deliberated in the Assembly, but the Council introduced, deliberated and rejected these provisions. Therefore, we do not see the need to deliberate on it. More importantly, we want to only submit the marriageable age provision for the joint sitting so that we mention the age clearly in the Marriage Act.”
And while reviewing the Cattle Tax Exemption Bill of Bhutan today, the House also agreed to the changes recommended by the National Council and incorporated by the Economic and Finance Committee. The recommendations were made regarding wording, spellings, and exclusion of some terms. The Bill will now be submitted for Royal Assent.
Singye Dema, Deki Lhazom, Namgay Dema
Edited by Yeshi Gyaltshen
