Week 4 - The Opposition & Legislation Date: Mar 29, 2009 2:23:18 PM PDT Author: Brooke What roles may the opposition be called upon to play in the passage of legislation initiated by the government? Brooke Prater WBI Parliamentary Strengthening Program parliamentarystrengthening@gmail.com

Week 4 - The Opposition & Legislation Date: Mar 30, 2009 3:55:03 AM PDT Author: Tina In the Parliament of Uganda, the opposition has a shadow cabinet, comprised of a Leader of Oppositions, 21 Shadow Ministers, the Chief Opposition Whip, and Party Whips. The Shadow Ministers are endowed with portfolios and functions corresponding to those of the Cabinet Ministers. After a ministerial policy statement is presented, it is discussed within the parliamentary committees where a report is formulated. The appropriate Shadow Minister is usually given an opportunity to present the position of the Opposition in respect to portfolio he/she holds in the shadow cabinet, its core function is to keep the government in check.

The Opposition and Legislation Date: Mar 30, 2009 6:23:20 AM PDT Author: Moderator An opposition may or may not be satisfied with legislation proposed by a government. The first situation is not greatly frequent because, even if an opposition party thinks that the proposals in a bill are sound as policy measures, there are usually disagreements on the methodology of delivery of the objectives of the bill. The opposition may not be able to amend the bill in parliament but can still use its influence to suggest changes behind the scenes. Indeed governments will often take soundings from the opposition in preparing a bill to minimise resistance on presentation. The opposition in turn will not want to lose its chances to make its points in open debate. A balance has to be struck by the opposition between positions of opposition and support. Committee proceedings give a good opportunity for opposition parties to get their amendments accepted. The relatively informal setting – and perhaps the reason that the reporting in the media may be less intensive than with plenary sessions of parliament – facilitates this result. The Uganda situation illustrates another power which the opposition has in certain countries. Our colleagues from that country have told us that the support of the opposition is needed for the passage of certain bills. Clearly that can change the power balance considerably in certain situations and we would like to hear more about how this power is used and of any constraints upon it. Overall the opposition parties will move amendments to proposed legislation that are in keeping with their policies and election manifestos even if they know that they have no hope of acceptance by the majority. This will be done to keep their views before parliament and the public, to reflect the thinking of various sectors of society and, especially for the main opposition party, to remain credible in the eyes of voters as an alternative government.

Week 4 - The Opposition & Legislation Date: Mar 30, 2009 7:34:48 AM PDT Author: CHINAKA Originally Posted by Brooke: What roles may the opposition be called upon to play in the passage of legislation initiated by the government? The opposition in the Nigerian Parliament is a coalition of all other political parties outside the ruling party. Their leadership is distributed based on the number of Parliamentarians from each of the political parties. However, it can overtly be stated that the opposition is the icing of democracy. Their roles therefore is very important in keeping the government focused. The roles of the opposition vary from bill to bill. Bills that impart on the life of the entire citizenry usually gets the support of the opposition without solicitation from the ruling party. However, bills that are political in nature on that may give the ruling party undue advantage over other political parties are always subjected to serious opposition and at times may lead to a walkout by the opposition. As is obtainable in other developing democracies, the opposition are still learning how to perform their roles as done in advanced democracies. Due to the number of the opposition, their roles are easily undermined as legislations can be passed with or without their contributions. They will always have their say while the majority will always have their way.

Opposition and the legislation initiated by the Government Date: Mar 30, 2009 9:29:53 AM PDT Author: Tumu In Uganda, any minister who sponsors a bill would like to see his/her bill supported by the opposition. In fact, even during the consideration of Bills by Committees, it is an honour for the chairperson when he reports that the committee report has been endorsed by the members of the opposition. Where the opposition members do not agree with the majority report, they tend to write minority report. But I sense that when the opposition members support a Bill, there is more legitimacy and implementation of the law is likely to be smooth. The second reason I suspect why Government may be interested in the views of the opposition on a particular bill is that some opposition members are extremely well informed on the subject matter. The third is the PR thing. Government would want to be seen as being democratic and consultative in the eyes of the African Peer Review Mechanism and the donors who have instituted democratic governace conditionality before grants can be released.

Week 4 - The Opposition & Legislation Date: Mar 30, 2009 2:12:52 PM PDT Author: Mister First of all the opposition should be considered as a lawful representative to represent the people. As such the opposition is capable of presenting and discussing alternative policies even if they are not part and parcel of government, perhaps to the extent that they do not even have the immediate means to contribute to the success of these policies Truth pressed on earth shall rise again because truth is nothing but truth itself Last modified by Mister on Mar 30 2009 2:14PM

The Opposition & Legislation Date: Apr 1, 2009 7:16:01 AM PDT Author: augu Rwanda Parliament is composed by MPs from 7 political parties, but we don't have opposition, a MP as work and vote according to his judgment without briefing of his political party. Th

The Oppostion and Legislation Date: Apr 1, 2009 10:05:19 PM PDT Author: srm Opposition group inside the legislature plays a significant in legislation. While majority of the members who are with the government usually put their views in favour of the government bills it is left to the Opposition who try to put an alternative view/policy and argue in favour of an alternative measures which may catch the attention of the House and the general public. Alertness of opposition is most important for making executive accountable. Opposition has every opportunity in making their point of view effectively on the floor of the House, inside the committee and ‘behind the scene’ contact with the members of Government as well as opposition. Government always consider the views of the opposition from the outset i.e. before the First Reading. While the Government is well equipped to frame its views through Ministries Opposition group depends upon compilation of their own resources , support from the Parliamentary Committees, Library and Research Division of the library, own party manifesto and guidelines from the party. In the parliamentary democracy the most vocal member from the opposition is always feared by the executive and prior preparation in the Ministry to face such lawyer is a practice in India. The power of opposition is always felt by the bureaucracy when they try to make detailed note to face the threat of onslaught in the House. Government always try to keep such member in good humour.

Week 4 - The Opposition & Legislation Date: Apr 1, 2009 11:19:46 PM PDT Author: Asad The role of the opposition is crucial in the legislation process.The bill moved by the government is debated upon thoroughly.Their views are accomodatd.Detailed discussions and braining storming sessions are held to discuss the bill or bills.The legislation done in this manner has two advantages.one is that it carries the views of the opposition.The second is that the legislation done in this way sends message to all and sundry to abide by it thus ultimately paving the way for smooth implementation. so the role and importance of the opposition can not be denied in the legislation.

Week 4 - The Opposition & Legislation Date: Apr 2, 2009 3:03:39 AM PDT Author: DOCTOR The opposition in most parliaments especially in nascent democracies like my country-Cameroon are very instumental and of utmost importance because they actually put into materialisation the relevance and effectivity of parliamentary oversight and legislation. In my country-Cameroon,legislative power is supposed to be exercised by the National Assembly and the Senate.But due to financial constraints,its only the National Assembly which is in place and plays the role of the legislative arm of government. The National Assembly as per the constitution of my country is made up of 180 parliamentarians who are voted through elections organised in 180 constituencies. Out of the 180 parliamentarians who make up the National Assembly presently: -153 come from the ruling party.i.e the Cameroon peoples Democratic Movement; while the oposition represents the minority.i.e.27 members of parliament. Besides the numerical witness of the opposition in the parliament of cameroon,they have been able to improve on the legislative procedures and the manner of functioning of the parliament of my country.This is so because before the advent of multi party politics in cameroon,parliament was a rubber stamp and thus made up of hand clappers.Today, the parliament of my country is able to amend,propose alternative text,control government action,create commissions of inquiry,thanks to the presence of a voiceferous opposition which despite its numerical position has been able through its quality of work to improve on the legislatures'image and render parliament abit relevant in the eyes of most cameroonians. So,for any parliament to effectively play its role,it needs an opposition which will actually act as a watch dog to government action,propose legislation and amendments to bills like the case of my country where the ruling party members of parliament always collude with the executive arm of government.The effects of this collusion has been reduced by the role of the opposition in the legislative process.