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Hon Aden Duale: Dissolution of parliament will lead to constitutional crisis, chaos

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PURPORTED DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT UNDER ARTICLE 261(7) OF THE CONSTITUTION

The Chief Justice has, pursuant to Art. 261(7) of the Constitution, advised the President to dissolve Parliament on the ground that Parliament has allegedly “blatantly failed, refused and/or neglected” to enact legislation required to implement the two-thirds gender rule. In my view, the dissolution would have the following implications on the Constitution:

(a) Art. 1(3) of the Constitution delegates the sovereign power of the people to, among others, Parliament. Further, Art. 94(2) clearly indicates that Parliament represents the will of the people and exercises their sovereignty on their behalf. A dissolution contemplated in Art. 261(7) therefore would be a serious affront to the will and sovereignty of the people embodied exercised by Parliament on their behalf.

(b) Art. 94(1) confers the legislative authority on Parliament. That authority is derived from the people. A dissolution contemplated under Art. 261(7) would negate this legislative authority conferred on Parliament by the people, and would thus deny the people the opportunity to exercise that authority, thus defeating the very purpose why the people ordained the Constitution for themselves.

(c) The effect of dissolution of Parliament contemplated in Art. 261(7) would be to prematurely cut short a term of Parliament and thereby precipitate a general election. Art 101(1) clearly indicates that a general election can only be held on the second Tuesday of August every five years. The Constitution does not contemplate any other situation when a general election can be held. Consequently, a dissolution of Parliament will lead to a constitutional crisis, as there does not exist a mechanism for conducting a general election other than what is contemplated in Art. 101(1).

Comments

  1. Hon. Duale should be held responsible for what has befallen parliament. This is the reason HE the president wanted MPs to leave politics and kutangatanga and concentrate on business but the leader of Government business failed him. You been a disgrace to the president.

    Reply

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