Third Chamber of Deputies in maiden session today

The Third Chamber of deputies will today hold its inaugural session.

New Speaker Donatille Mukabalisa is expected to chair the session of 80 legislators that make up the lower chamber, who were sworn in on Friday.

The MPs are expected to consider and approve the lower chamber’s working agenda, as the House resumes its ordinary session.

The deputies are expected to prioritise key pending Bills on as well as Government oversight issues that require immediate attention.

“There are many issues to look at, including reports submitted to the House by different organs, and a timetable has to be drawn and approved. For example, the House already has the Officeof Auditor General’s report for the fiscal year 2012/2013, and MPs will decide when to start scrutinising it,” said Augustin Habimana, the director-general of communication and outreach at Parliament.

Apart from routine reports from the OAG, the House usually gets to scrutinise reports from its standing committees.

The Parliament also has the mandate to receive, discuss and make recommendations on reports from the Ombudsman office.

When the second Chamber of Deputies wrapped up its term, in August, it had attained at least 96.6 per cent of its legislative mission – from October 6, 2008, up to August 5, 2013. The Lower House then, according to former Speaker, Rose Mukantabana, received 391 Bills, but MPs were not able to finish work on 13 Bills.

A total 349 Bills were passed, including 312 which were enacted into laws.

The unfinished legislative business include the bill on persons and family, a bill that repeals the 2007 law on health insurance, the bill on tourism, the bill on disaster management, the bill on abandoned property, and the one on pensions.

The MPs are, during the course of the week, also expected to elect new leaders of standing committees.

Third Chamber of Deputies in maiden session today