Constitutional amendments back to lower chamber after Senate blocks key article
13-01-2022 03:09 PM
Ammon News - The Senate on Thursday returned a package of amendments to the Constitution that had been approved by the lower chamber of Parliament after the senators rejected an amendment that imposed a conditional ban on commercial dealings between legislators and the government.
Nevertheless, the Senate passed all amendments as referred by the Lower House, except for Paragraph 2 of Article 75 of the Constitution.
The original amendment, as passed earlier by the Lower House, prohibits members of both chambers of parliament, while in office, from concluding any contract, lease, sale, barter, or any other type of contract with the government, public official institutions or public institutions or companies owned or controlled by the government.
The amendment to Articles 74 and 75 of the Constitution, which won a majority of 111 deputies, excluded cases in which the senator or deputy, prior to membership, is a shareholder or partner with ownership of at least 2%, and leases of land and property signed before membership in either chamber of Parliament.
The premise that the senators built their rejection of the amendment on is "that the state needs to contract with national companies and that the threshold of beneficial ownership is 5 percent or more." Therefore, the Senators proposed that the threshold be increased to 5 percent instead of 2 percent approved by the Lower House.
The Senate's amendment to the said article prohibits lawmakers from intervening in contracts that the government may sign with companies they have stakes in at the set ratio.