BUJUMBURA June 5th (ABP) – The Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr. Pascal Nyabenda, solemnly opened on Monday in the Kigobe Chamber, the ordinary parliamentary session of June 2018, a session that began when the Burundian people has just adopted by referendum the draft new constitution, a check on the site by ABP has revealed.
In his speech, he indicated that once the new Constitution is promulgated, the calendar of parliamentary sessions will be changed. While the three parliamentary sessions began respectively the first working days of February, June and October, the new constitution provides in article 179 that the opening of parliamentary sessions takes place the first working days of August, December and April.
Nyabenda said that in case of promulgation of the new constitution in the month of June, the National Assembly will continue to work because it will directly switch from the old Constitution to the new Constitution until the end of June. During these few days of June, he said, the National Assembly intends to carry out two major activities, namely to adopt its new internal regulations in accordance with the new Constitution and analyze the amendments to the 2018 budget law to adapt it to the new Constitution, as regards its compliance with the East African Community (EAC) Treaty.
With regard to the legislative achievements of the National Assembly, Mr. Nyabenda indicated that the parliament successfully organized the 72nd Session of the Executive Committee of the African Parliamentary Union (UPA) on the dates of May 22 to 23, 2018. The National Assembly seized the opportunity to welcome the appeal made by the UPA to the European Union for the economic and financial sanctions imposed on Burundi to be lifted and for the relations with Burundi to be normalized.
The Burundian Senate also opened on Monday the work of the ordinary session of June 2018, a check by ABP at its headquarters in Bujumbura has revealed. The first Deputy President of that institution, Ms. Spès Caritas Njebarikanuye, emphasized on that occasion that the government has already transmitted 11 bills. These include the bill on permanent stabling and the prohibition of the straying of domestic and barnyard animals, the bill creating and delimiting the Buhayira commune and the delimitation of the Murwi commune. Cibitoke province (north-west), the Republic of Burundi’s accession to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, that of the Republic of Burundi acceding to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. With regard to health, it is envisaged the bill on the provision of health care and services and the bill on the regulation of the drug, the practice of pharmacy, the profession of the optician and of the art of traditional healers.
Ms. Njebarikanuye pointed out that during the parliamentary recess, the Senators noted on the spot that, in quite a few places, the State afforestation was seriously destroyed. She appealed to the government to set aside a budget for the production of tree nurseries starting this June, before calling on the population to participate in the reforestation program for watersheds and shores, especially for the rivers crossing the Bujumbura City. To this must be added the tracing of contour lines to fight against erosion and keep the fertility of the soil.
The Burundian Senate, she said, has put on its agenda, the program of awareness-raising among the citizens on self-development, family planning, the fight against violence to girls such as rape and forced marriage, and the fight against polygamy.
