Parliament overrides presidential veto to force polls delay after Ramadan
The constitution says that if the same bill is passed with the support of the parliament majority president must ratify it
Summary
The constitution says that if the same bill is passed with the support of the parliament majority president must ratify it
The opposition controlled parliament on Wednesday overrode the presidential veto to force the upcoming parliamentary elections to be held after the holy month of Ramadan.
Parliament passed an amendment to the General Elections Act last week to hold the parliamentary elections 10 days after the end of Ramadan.
In the pursuant days, the president on several occasions had hinted that he would reject the bill as he wants to hold the elections on the originally scheduled date of March 17.
President's Office had later confirmed that the president had exercised his constitutional power to reject the bill and sent it back to the parliament for reconsideration.
When the vetoed bill was tabled on the agenda during today's sitting, an opposition had proposed to pass the bill for the second time without any amendments.
As proposed, when the bill was put to a vote, 47 MPs voted in favor with only 14 voting against.
According to the constitution, the president has the power to veto a bill passed by the parliament.
However, the constitution also says that if the same bill is passed with the support of the parliament majority for the second time without any amendments, president must then ratify it. Which means, the support of 47 MPs for the bill on Wednesday would be more than enough to force its ratification.
