EXERCISE
OF SOVEREIGNTY
THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Art. 27
– National sovereignty belongs to the people who shall exercise it through
their representatives at a national Assembly. Such representatives shall be
proposed by the National Liberation Front and elected by direct and secret
universal suffrage.
Art.
28 – The National
Assembly shall express popular will; it shall enact laws and control
governmental action.
Art.
29 – The law shall
fix the method of election of deputies at the National Assembly, their number,
the conditions of eligibility and the system of incompatibilities.
In case of
protest over the fairness of the election of a deputy, a committee of
verification of powers and validation provided for in the Rules of Procedure of
the assembly shall issue a verdict under the conditions specified therein.
Art.
30 – The loss of
mandate by a deputy shall only be pronounced by a two-thirds majority of the
members of the National Assembly, and on the proposal of the highest authority
of the National Liberation Front.
Art.
31 – A deputy shall enjoy parliamentary immunity during his mandate.
Art.
32 – Except in
case of flagrante delicto, no deputy shall be arrested or prosecuted in penal
matters without the permission of the National Assembly. The detention or the
prosecution of a deputy shall be suspended if the National Assembly so requires.
In case of
flagrante delicto, the officers of the Assembly shall be immediately notified of
the legal proceedings or measures taken against the deputy. The said Officers
may take measures having force of law to apply the principle of parliamentary
immunity.
No member of the
National Assembly shall be prosecuted, arrested, detained, or tried on account
of his opinions or votes expressed during his mandate.
Art.
33 – The National
Assembly shall assemble by right before the fifteenth day following the election
of its members and shall proceed to the validation of their mandates.
Soon after, it shall elect its Speaker, Officers, and committees.
Art.
34 – The Speaker
of the National Assembly shall be the second most important person of the State.
Art
35 – The National
Assembly shall fix in its Rules of Procedure, the rules of its organization and
functioning.
Art
36 – The President
of the Republic and the deputies shall have the right to propose laws.
Bills, private bills or draft resolutions shall be deposited with the Officers
of the Assembly who shall refer them for discussion to the relevant
parliamentary committees.
Art
37 – The members
of the government shall have access to the National Assembly and its Committees.
They shall have the right to intervene in a debate.
Art
38 – The National
Assembly shall exercise its control over governmental action through:
the hearing of ministers in committees;
written questions; or
oral
questions, with or without a debate.