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    "id": 1136206,
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    "content": "Hon. Members, before the House proceeds to consider business appearing as Order No.8 in this morning’s Order Paper, being the consideration of the Political Parties(Amendment) Bill (National Assembly Bill No.56 of 2021) in Committee of the whole House, I wish to guide the House with respect to amendments proposed by individual Members to the said Bill. It will be recalled that following the many amendments whose notice had been given by various Members during our last Special Sitting of 22nd December 2021, I invoked the provisions of Standing Order No.131 to refer these amendments to the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs for harmonisation through a process commonly referred to in parliamentary jurisdiction as winnowing. Essentially, since a Committee of the whole House stage has very minimal debate, winnowing accords Members with amendments an opportunity to discuss their proposed amendments at the relevant committee and attempt to harmonise them with a view to recommending to the House which of the various proposed amendments should be accorded priority in the Committee of the whole House. Indeed, in many instances, we have witnessed committees incorporate individual Members’ amendments as part of the committee’s amendments after a winnowing process while some Members opt to drop their proposed amendments as part of the compromise. Regrettably, I am also informed by the Chairperson of the Committee that while some Members attended and discussed their proposed amendments with the Committee, a number of other Members either failed to turn up or left the meeting before going through the harmonisation process for one reason or the other, despite the opportunity accorded and the directive of the Speaker. Since all Members ultimately retain the right to have their amendments published in the Order Paper for decision by the House, it is for this reason that I directed that the amendments by all Members be published on the Order Paper, including those that appeared not to have undergone the harmonisation process. It also notable that despite this shortcoming, some of the amendments proposed by those Members have been carried by the Committee or the Leader of the Majority Party in the same form or a modified version. Hon. Members, it is further notable, as indicated in this morning’s Order Paper, that the Member for Lugari, Hon. Ayub Savula, and the Nominated Member, Hon. Godfrey Osotsi, gave respective notices of withdrawal of their proposed amendments to the Bill during the winnowing process which took place yesterday, 28th December 2021, at the County Hall Mini-Chamber, and was facilitated by the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs, pursuant to the provisions Standing Order No.131. I must reiterate the need for due legal and procedural consideration by all Members when proposing amendments. Instructively, it is noted that some of the amendments offend the provisions of Standing Order No.133(5) in that they propose to unreasonably or unduly expand the subject of the Bill. Such amendments can only be proceeded with in accordance with the provisions of Article 118 of the Constitution on public participation. As you may have noticed on The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}