'Lengthy' delays over laws rapped.

Byline: MOHAMMED AL A'ALI 

AN MP yesterday called on parliament to take a vote of no-confidence against the Cabinet over alleged deliberate delays in responding to laws and amendments.

The call, which was made during an extraordinary session, sparked a rift between two ministers, who blamed each other for the delays.

Justice and Islamic Affairs Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa and Minister of State for Parliament and Shura Council Affairs Abdulaziz Al Fadhel defended their work, saying that they were doing their best to help MPs carry out their duties.

The session was held following allegations by MPs of repeated constitutional violations over lengthy delays in replying to parliament's proposed laws and amendments.

The government has four months to respond according to the constitution, but MPs say it often takes longer or there is no response at all.

MP Abdulhussain Al Metgawie urged other members at the session to take a vote of no-confidence against the Cabinet for deliberately delaying proposed laws and amendments to make them "look bad in the eyes of citizens".

Shaikh Khalid said that in European countries such as France and the UK, parliament-proposed laws took only two weeks to get drafted, while in other countries it takes as long as 20 years for any proposed law to see the light.

"We in Bahrain are in between and it takes the independent Legal Affairs Directorate, which is now under our authority, just a few months to knock them into shape," he said.

"The delays are with the government, which takes time to study them, before returning them to parliament.

"We are doing our best to ensure that the proposed laws and amendments come out in the best shape possible without any delay, regardless of when it was presented to us."

Shaikh Khalid, who threatened to leave the session after being interrupted by MPs several times, said that parliament members should logically think about the issue, not emotionally.

"Legislative powers are the sole authority of parliament, no one can take that away unless you allow them to do so, and we are just here to enrich discussions and not force our way," he said.

"We have never had intentions to make MPs look bad, but there are a lot of proposed laws and amendments that we have to look into, including 44 that were proposed by MPs since last May."

Shaikh Khalid said that 11 proposals and amendments were on their way to parliament and that the Legal Affairs Directorate was doing its best to finish them.

"The directorate is just an organising body, while the final decision is with the government," he said.

"To be honest, officials in the directorate sit in their offices for long hours trying to figure out a way to come up with the drafted laws and amendments proposed by MPs."

However, Mr Al Fadhel said that the directorate was the main reason behind the delays because they were under a lot of pressure and didn't have enough time.

"Out of 58 laws and amendments proposed in the last term, 19 have been sent back to parliament, as the government never delays them. As soon as we get them from the directorate, they are being sent here," he told MPs.

"The period given to study the proposed laws and amendments is not enough and this is why we can't respond to MPs in a speedy manner."

He said that the government also takes times to ensure that the proposed laws and amendments have no constitutional or legal flaws.

"Nothing is intentional and we are doing our best to bring them back here as soon as possible."

Parliament legislative and legal affairs committee chairman Khalil Al Marzooq said the government was using a constitutional article allowing them to take a maximum two legislative terms to submit parliamentary laws and amendments.

"They use it as an excuse to delay what they don't want, so that it eventually gets dropped," he said.

"The government brags about co-operation, but I don't think it believes in it."

Services committee chairman Dr Ali Ahmed said that the government had "weak excuses" over delays to proposed laws and amendments.

"Their comments on the laws being knocked into shape by the Legal Affairs Directorate are empty because in a lot of cases it shows that they select what they like and leave the rest.

"Parliament is the legislative body and no one else has the right to drop any legislation we pass, without coming back to us."

Dr Ahmed claimed that the government was not drafting laws according to the dates they were submitted, but according to their liking.

"Whatever they want they send back to us, while other drafted laws and amendments are deliberately being shelved," he said.

"The amendments we are proposing are just on one or two articles, which won't take more than several weeks to look at.

"However, the government has plans to make us look bad in every possible manner."

Dr Ahmed said that the government has intentionally drafted the witchcraft and sorcery law proposed by MPs to make them look silly in front of voters.

"The people would be made to believe that this was one of parliament's concerns, while their needs are not in their agenda," he said.

Legislative and legal affairs committee vice-chairman Shaikh Jassim Al Saeedi said that parliament was co-operating with the government, but not vice-versa.

"A number of ministers think it's not their duty to attend parliament's committee meetings, although they are invited in writing to attend," he said.

"Others don't show up for our sessions although they get the schedules days before and even if they come they ask us to postpone discussions to allow them time to give feedback and they never show up again.

"What co-operation is the government speaking about? Do they think they are above being called to parliament? We are not asking for constitutional reforms, we just want support in our legislative work."

Parliament first vice-chairman Ghanim Al Buainain demanded that the directorate be moved under the authority of parliament instead of the government, like in other GCC and Arab countries.

"This ensures that we know if the proposed laws and amendments are possible and that they don't get thrown away," he said.

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