Today, Saturday, the Office of the National People’s Assembly issued an explanatory statement regarding its memorandum regarding the suspension of some legislative and oversight activities during the election campaign period.
The National People’s Assembly explained that this statement comes after what it described as “some comments circulating about the memorandum,” stressing that this measure “does not in any way constitute a disruption of parliamentary work,” but rather falls within the regulatory powers granted to the Council’s office under the bylaws.
This memorandum, the statement adds, is based on a number of objective considerations, the most important of which is “the impossibility of completing the legal processes for the proposed legislative and oversight initiatives within the remaining deadlines of the parliamentary term, which makes them incapable of completion before its end, in addition to taking into account the specificity of the electoral phase and the obligations it imposes on the representatives running or participating in the electoral campaign, which may affect the normal course of parliamentary activities.”
The memorandum also aims to “ensure respect for the requirements of neutrality and equal opportunities among all candidates, and to avoid any employment of parliamentary activities in the context of the electoral campaign in accordance with legal provisions and the ethics of political practice.”
The Council’s office affirmed its “full respect for the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of opinion and expression,” adding that it “will continue to carry out its duties and responsibilities with all impartiality and responsibility, along with the various bodies of the Council, until the end of the parliamentary term.”
