There appears to be no consensus among parliamentary parties about a date for the first sitting of the National Assembly after the just concluded recess.
There also appears to be some confusion as to the procedure by which the National Assembly is to be convened. It is claimed that the Government has to make a request of the Speaker. The AFC, on the other hand, relies on Standing Order (S.O.) 8(2) which permits the Speaker, if in his opinion the public interest so requires, to convene the National Assembly to a day earlier than that to which it stands adjourned. Under this S.O. the pre-requisite for the Speaker’s intervention is that a date must have already been fixed, which is not the situation. The AFC also relies on the Opposition’s 51 percent of the seats. The Opposition Leader says that it is out of their hands.
The National Assembly is normally adjourned to a named date. But quite often it is adjourned to a ‘date to be fixed.’ In the latter case, the National Assembly is re-convened upon a request to the Speaker by the Government, which nominates a date. From time to time there has been prior consultation with the Opposition but this has not been consistent.
S.O. 8(1), prior to 2006, relating to sittings of the National Assembly, provided that it ‘shall’ meet every day, except Saturdays and Sundays. This was amended in 2006 by substituting the word ‘may’ for ‘shall.’ The S.O. now states: “Save as otherwise provided by the Constitution or resolved by the Assembly upon a Motion moved by a Minister, the Assembly may sit every day except Saturdays and Sundays and,