The proposal is expected to be debated on Tuesday after it was approved by parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee last week. It demands amendments to seven articles to give more legislative powers to MPs. All efforts to amend the new constitution that replaced the 1973 constitution have failed since the formation of parliament in 2002.
The proposal, a copy of which is obtained by Khaleej Times, suggests amendment to article 38 that regularises issuance of decree laws by His Majesty the King during parliamentary recess. It gives MPs the powers to vote for or against those decrees, as currently they only have the right to review them.
The proposal also seeks amendment to article 68 to impose a timeframe for the government to reply to parliamentary proposals.
It also demands amendment to articles 83, 86 and 102 to give speaker of the lower house the right to chair joint meetings of elected and appointed lawmakers. At present chairman of the upper house has the right.
The proposal also suggests changes to article 87 to stop the government from referring finance-related draft laws as urgent bills, which require parliament to review each of them in just 15 days.
The proposal also demands tabling a draft law for the state budget every year rather than the current practice of sending the draft law every two years.
