If a bill passed by the National Assembly is rejected by the Senate, or is not passed within 90 days of being laid in the Senate, or is passed with amendments but not passed again by the Assembly with such amendments, the mover of the bill may put a motion before the Assembly to refer it to the Joint Sitting of the Parliament. If such motion is approved, the Speaker shall refer the Bill to a joint sitting or, if a joint sitting is not in session, request the President to summon a joint sitting for consideration of the Bill.
Why it matters for the National Assembly proceedings?
The joint sitting mechanism resolves bicameral deadlock by allowing members of both Houses to vote collectively on the bill. On a plain calculation, this arrangement may sound favouring of the more populous and directly elected chamber i.e. the National Assembly with 336 members against the Senate’s 36. However, it is not always that simple and it depends on the parliamentary parties’ strength in each House.
What is in it for citizens?
When a bill is passed in a joint sitting, citizens should understand that it was rejected or delayed by either of the House. This is a constitutionally provided-for mechanism — not a parliamentary coup of one House against another — but its use signals bicameral disagreement.
Source: Rules 154–155, Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007
The proceedings of the National Assembly are governed by the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007. The current rules were passed on 23 February 2007 and have since been amended 21 times, most recently on 22 October 2024.
This post is part of FAFEN’s series on parliamentary literacy. Read more of this series here.
