Bahrain Mirror: Ghanem bin Fadl Al-Buainain, Minister of Shura and Parliament Affairs, considered that blaming and charging a minister by MPs is a punishment that should not be raised to a minister.

During a virtual press meeting organized by the National Communication Centre on Saturday (May 29, 2021), Al-Buainain discussed the criticism regarding the regulation of the statute of the Parliament with respect to the general discussion.

He said that the legislative body has invoked the law through an agreement between the government and the House of Representatives, as the commission is competent to decide on the interpretation of a text of laws or decrees by law, and the issued decision shall be binding to the parties.

The minister noted that the Bahraini constitution specified the number of people who make interventions during a general discussion in the statute, which didn't mention that number, in contradiction to the Constitution. If we had resorted to the Constitutional Court, it would have confirmed that the old version of the statute is in contradiction with the Constitution, indicating that the amendments made in terms of specifying the number and time of discussion were based on a binding opinion from the legislative authority.

With regard to preventing MPs from blaming or charging ministers, Al-Buainain claimed that blaming is one of the measures the statute gave to the Speaker of the House if a member violates it. Blaming is considered a punishment issued by heads of both councils against any of the members.

He said that the main reason behind a general discussion is explaining the government's policy on a certain topic and exchanging opinions, adding that they are sharing opinions and not blaming a minister over a measure he took.

Arabic Version