Speaker of House of Representatives Meets Chairpersons of Parliamentary Groups and Caucus on April 28th, 2020

Speaker of House of Representatives Habib El Malki held a meeting with the chairpersons of parliamentary groups and caucus on Tuesday, April 28^th, 2020. The meeting was devoted to discussing the House's agenda and the organization of its activities.

Concerning the organization of the weekly plenary sessions devoted to oral questions, the participants reiterated the importance of the sectoral topics that should be included in the weekly sessions in the format of questions followed by discussion. The topics should align with the constraints of the current exceptional situation and the concerns of the national public opinion.

The House's components expressed their keenness to pursue their work in control, in a manner that puts the higher interest of the country at the heart of the parliamentary action on both legislation and control levels. They also noted the efficiency of the approach used to live stream the meetings of standing committees, and the significance of the topics covered by weekly Government control sessions.

Besides, the participants noted the positive primary results of reviewing the oral questioning system, which the House has started implementing partially through following the format of sectoral questions followed by discussion. The results reflected reasonable time management and broader coverage of the sector in question.

Also, the participants tackled legislation. In this respect, they noted the conscientious and quick response in approving the legal texts required by the current situation after thorough discussion and possible amendment. The participants also highlighted the keenness of the House to follow the legal procedure set out in Article 81 of the Constitution relative to draft decree-laws.

Concerning the legal framework of the health sector, the participants stressed the importance of the House's contribution to developing, reviewing, and studying the relevant laws in cooperation with the different actors of the sector.

About consolidating the House's openness to the outside environment, the meeting discussed reviewing the legal framework relative to petitions and motions, and the formalistic procedural obstacles, which were the recommendations issued following the seminar organized by the House in February, during which the House called for opening extensive debate between the parliamentary groups and caucus to prepare the required reforms.

The meeting also discussed the convention of the plenary legislative session on Thursday, April 30^th, at 2.00 p.m. The session's agenda includes three Government bills. The first bill approves the decree-law enacting special provisions to the state of public health emergency and the measures to declare it. The second bill approves the decree-law relative to suspending the foreign-debt ceiling, and the third bill enacts special provisions on the activities of the executive bodies of joint-stock companies and the convention of their shareholders' meetings during the state of public health emergency.