The National Assembly (Amendment) Bill of Bhutan 2024 was deferred indefinitely and declared a dead bill following a vote in the Joint Sitting of Parliament today. The Bill became a disputed bill after the National Assembly and the National Council failed to reach a consensus on several provisions during the last winter session.
Initially introduced by the National Assembly, the Bill proposed amendments to 44 sections of the existing Act, of which 34 sections were adopted by the House.
The Bill was forwarded to the National Council in July last year, where 21 sections were amended. When the Bill was returned to the National Assembly, the House adopted 12 of sections, while consensus could not be reached on nine sections.
As a result, the Bill was referred to a Joint Sitting of Parliament.
Kuenga Dorji, Chairperson of the Joint Committee said, of the nine sections, the first Joint Sitting during the last session agreed to include two sections regarding “protocol” in the home affairs ministry’s Protocol Guidelines.
The Joint Sitting then adopted the Bill.
However, the Supreme Court interpreted that three sections concerning the position of the Secretary General were inconsistent with the Constitution.
Subsequently, the Joint Committee proposed the removal of these sections. The Joint Sitting agreed to the proposal through a show of hands and removed the sections from the Bill.
Despite this, the majority of members present in today’s Joint Sitting voted against the Bill. Of the 70 members present, 39 voted against the Bill, 25 voted in favour, and five abstained. As the required majority was not secured, the Bill could not proceed further.
The Bill may be re-introduced as a new Bill in a future session after a year.
Sangay Chozom
Edited by Tshering Zam
