Africa-Press – Lesotho. The parliament is set to have a joint sitting, following the National Reforms Authority (NRA)’s Parliamentary Reforms Committee proposed legislation for consideration
of this arrangement. Per the Constitution the parliament is composed of the King, the Senate and the National Assembly. Section 54 of the Constitution
says: “There shall be a Parliament which shall consist of the King, a Senate and a National Assembly”. The introduction of the joint-sitting is a response to the call made by Basotho as contained in the Parliamentary Reforms A Report Prepared for
the Lesotho National Dialogue Preparation Committee (NDPC). The report says that “there is a need to harmonize relationship between the Senate and the
National Assembly”. It proposed for the creation of “formal arrangements that will facilitate: Joint sittings of the two Houses and Joint Committees” with the view that the establishment of the joint standing
orders to facilitate joint functions of the two houses in order to “promote smooth parliamentary governance”. The joint sitting may be called during the ceremonial events ranging from the King’s Speech from the throne,
the budget speech, the state of the nation address and when there is a special state visitor who may wish to address the parliament. “The benefit of joint sitting in
the Lesotho context is to give members of both houses simultaneous, equal and focused attention of government on matters of national importance. The separate
address of houses on important matters like budget is redundant. “The Minister only addresses Senate about budget during the appropriation Bill which is the last stage of budget
time. This makes input of the upper house late and stale. Whereas, if the reaction of parliamentarians is given at once in the same sitting for the budget speech for an example, all the inputs are given, noted and or responded
to,” said Parliamentary Reforms Committee. The current laws does not provide for the joint sitting. The Committee’s report noted that: “Where two houses disagree on key legislative issues like failure of the two
houses to achieve two thirds majority each at the final voting on the Bill where such is needed, a joint sitting would be called, and the decision taken
shall prevail. “This tool is also used to build common understanding, unity and sense of belonging among members of the two houses. ” The joint sitting is practiced in
parliaments such as that of the United Kingdom which boasts similar parliament model of two houses such as Lesotho. The National Assembly has 120 seats of which 80 are for elected members in the constituencies
and 40 members are for proportional representation. The Senate is made up of 33 seats, among which 22 are the Principal Chiefs and 11 other members nominated
by the King acting on the advice of the council of state. NRA is mandated to address the seven thematic areas which are constitution, parliament, media, economy, security, judiciary and public service
sector. It was established as a result of the Second Multi-Stakeholder National Dialogue Plenary II which is charged with the mandate to implement the reforms which are the wishes for the nation for the “Lesotho we want”. It is established through the Parliament Act No. 4, 2019 and the NRA Regulations, 2020 and it is accountable to the Parliament.
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