Debates ensued even as the National Assembly draws to a close. Bartsham-Shongphu Member of Parliament (MP) Passang Dorji (PhD) said the Goods and Services Tax Bill should not have been considered a Money Bill. Pangbang MP Dorji Wangdi also accused the speaker of procedure lapses in identification and declaration of a Money Bill.
The National Assembly discussed eight Money Bills this session. During the rectification of the resolutions, one of the resolutions reflected that the parliament decided to consider all the eight bills as Money Bills. And it did not go well with some parliamentarians.
“We should reflect that the decision was made following speaker’s order because as per National Assembly act, it states that if any question arises whether a Bill is a Money Bill or not, the decision of speaker thereon shall be final. We never discussed if a Bill is a Money Bill or not. If we are to reflect that the parliament decided on it, we should either cast electronic voting or raise of hands,” said Passang Dorji (PhD), the Bartsham-Shongphu MP.
“When it comes to Money Bill, there is legislative rules of procedure to be followed. According to that, whether to consider a Money Bill or not, the speaker should first discuss it with the Chairperson of the National Council. Followed by that, the speaker has the authority to decide at last. The speaker should discuss with the legislative committee or any committee and decide. We even said it here that the speaker did not follow that rules of procedure,” added Dorji Wangdi, the Panbang MP.
Opposition members said GST bill is a change in the system and not in the rate.
“When it comes to responsibility, are we going to say that the speaker made a decision and that it wasn’t a collective decision, saying ruling party decided it and not the opposition party, and vice versa? We should say that whatever we decided inside the session is a collective decision even when we go outside. Even when we talk about the Money Bill, like the MP yourself said, it’s in the speaker to decide. The government has put up all the Bill as Money Bills as they are all related to tax. There is nothing to think about if the Bill is a Money Bill or not,” said Wangchuk Namgyel, the Assembly Speaker.
Majority of the parliamentarians present agreed to stick to the resolutions.
Samten Dolkar
