The role of the Palestinian Legislative Council in formulating public policies and binding its decisions
legal Study,
Adviser/
a. Abdullah Mohammed Abu Loli
The question arises about the role of the Legislative Council in formulating public policies in Palestine. and the extent to which its decisions are binding, Where a group appears that claims that the decisions of the Legislative Council are not binding without supporting its opinion with clear and explicit legal texts, other than adhering to the principle of separation of powers, If so, what obliges the judiciary to apply the laws issued by the legislature? And why is the executive branch obligated to implement the provisions of the law, What is the purpose of the Palestinian legislator in going to criminalize refraining from implementing judicial rulings? This shows us that the relative separation of powers is based on ensuring that the tasks of each of the three authorities in the State are carried out without interference by the other authorities in that implementation. Such functions shall be in accordance with the laws approved by the legislature.
Accordingly, if we take into account the validity of the claim of that group that calls for the non-binding decisions of the Legislative Council and its lack of role in formulating public policies in the State, So why all this conflict and competition between parties and factions for an absolute majority in parliament? and harvesting a comfortable majority to qualify it to implement its political program adopted during its electoral battle, It won the confidence of the people through it, which is considered the basis for public policymaking.
For all this, I saw how serious this claim is to the actions of the legislative authority and how it would lead to its nip in the bud, It will even weaken its existence in the face of the encroachment of the executive authority, If not to kill her, and non-existent, This requires us to go deep into the constitutional text and the anatomy of legislative philosophy and the legislator’s goal of clarifying the system of government in Palestine and adopting it as a representative and democratic system. Setting the rules and conditions for candidacy for Parliament, All of this is marketed through the legal bases that we rely on in this study as follows:
Legal Basis:
1: Palestinian Legislations:
-
The Palestinian Basic Law and its amendments of 2005.
-
General Elections Law No. 9 of 2005.
-
Law by Decree No. 1 of 2017 on general elections.
2: Policy by us:
-
Legislative impact and policy by us (First Council)
First of all: Palestinian Legislations:
The Sharia Council plays a prominent role in the formulation of general Palestinian policies. Based on the legal basis established by Article (2) of the Basic Law, which enshrines the principle of the people who are the source of powers and exercised through the legislative authorities and … etc Considering that it represents the will of the people and the title of sovereignty in the country, It is customary in political systems that the party that holds the majority of seats in parliament, is charged with the formation of the Government, This is an indication that the government’s executive program is emanating from and fully consistent with the electoral program on the basis of which the Palestinian people decided to choose a certain category or group of parties competing in the parliamentary elections. This is an indication that policymaking, And in all its sections and segments, whether economic, political, security or …. etc. stems from the will of the people first, which he enshrined in his choice of the electoral program that gave him the majority.
-
The formulation of public policies stems from the electoral program of the parliament: Thus, the government that emerged mainly from the womb of the faction or party that won the parliamentary majority, which are already the result of free, fair and transparent elections, And it came from the womb of Parliament, Abide by the provisions of the electoral program adopted by the faction that won the majority, Otherwise, what is the benefit of obliging the list running for elections to submit its electoral program in accordance with Article (50) of Law by Decree No. (1) of 2007? (which was politically agreed to run in the last elections in accordance with the principles and procedures) where it stipulates: (When registering for candidacy in the elections, each electoral list must submit an application for candidacy on the form prepared by the committee for this purpose, It shall include: (b) a copy of the electoral program of the electoral list); Indeed, Article (39) of the aforementioned Law by Decree confirms this, As it is required to accept the candidacy of the list initially to have an electoral program, as the text was explicit in paragraph (5), which requires that (… The candidacy application shall be accompanied by a copy of the electoral program and a color electronic copy of the logo and electoral symbol..).
He continued in the study entitled The Role of the Palestinian Legislative Council in Making Public Policies
There is no doubt that the General Elections Law No. 9 of 2005, which was repealed by the aforementioned decree by law, which represents the legal reference of the existing (current) legislature, It was estimated that there should be an electoral program for each list during Article (55) thereof, which states: Conditions for nominating lists, including (…. b. a copy of the electoral program of the electoral list), Here, the importance of the electoral program becomes clear to us. Which in turn represents an extension of the confidence that Parliament gives to the government, This is undoubtedly consistent with the binding power of Parliament, There is no doubt that those who own the construction tools have the tools of demolition and finishing, A fortiori, amendment and reform.
-
The legitimacy of the government’s actions stems from the confidence of the legislative authority in it: The Prime Minister in charge of a decision of the President of the National Authority to form his government within three weeks and for a period of two weeks added if necessary, It is based on the provisions of the Palestinian Basic Law, especially Article (65) thereof, Accordingly, the Prime Minister-designate is working to submit a request to the Legislative Council to convene a special session to vote of confidence in the government in accordance with Article (66) of the Palestinian Basic Law.
Here, the Prime Minister-designate reads out and discusses the written ministerial statement defining its program and general policies. Which must meet and be consistent with the electoral program presented by the faction that obtained the popular majority granted to it, Otherwise, the Legislative Council will not gain the confidence of the Legislative Council. In the sense that if the program of the executive authority is not consistent with the electoral program of the faction with the majority in parliament, it will undoubtedly clash with the decision not to grant confidence to the formed government and therefore it will not be able to exercise its constitutional functions without obtaining confidence from the legislative council, and this in itself represents a central basis and an original basis for the force of binding the decision of the legislative council to the executive authority. Which requires nothingness not to do so.
If we want to delve deeper and dive into the capacity of the PLC and its mandatory power, we will find many articles that help us in this, especially those legal articles that specify the procedures for withholding the government (77, 78, 79) of the Basic Law, where only ten members of the Palestinian Legislative Council have the right to request a special session to withdraw confidence from the government or one of its members.
Here, it should be noted that the tools of the legislative authority through which it exercises the binding force of the executive authority lie in the danger of interrogation, which undoubtedly leads to the withdrawal of confidence. Herein lies the strength of the Legislative Council in ratification and confidence, withholding and refraining from granting confidence, Cancellation or amendment of the budget, Acceptance or rejection of public discussion of legislation proposed by the Government, Conviction or not of the reasons given by the Government for the proposed legislation
-
The system of government in a representative democratic Palestine: If we find those who are not convinced of all of the above, we mention them. Pursuant to Article (5) of the Palestinian Basic Law and its amendments of 2005, Which states: The system of government in Palestine is a representative democratic system based on political and party pluralism in which the President of the National Authority is directly elected by the people and the government is accountable to the President and the Palestinian Legislative Council.
In this regard, we believe that if we review only the provisions of this article, with its explicit principles and direct words, there is no room for questioning or analysis. Enough of those with the door, And convinced the people of understanding and perception, As the word parliamentary alone when attached to democracy has a connotation that the system of government in Palestine stems mainly from the work of parliament, The Palestinian legislator even confirmed this in the same text when it concluded with the phrase “The Government shall be accountable to the President and the Legislative Council.” Here we leave it to those with the door to interpret the meaning of the word “government” to be responsible.
-
Legal (forced) resignation of the government at the beginning of the term of the new legislature: The matter did not end there, but the existing government is considered to have resigned by virtue of the law and without the need to submit its resignation at the beginning of the term of the new legislature, This is confirmed by article 83 of the Basic Law, which defines the cases in which the Government resigns, by explicitly stipulating in the first clause that the Government shall be considered resigned and restructured: (1) Immediately after the commencement of the term of office of the Legislative Council.
Here, it is necessary to note the purpose of the dismissal of the government by law and forcibly without the need to submit its voluntary, written and reasoned resignation. Considering that the goal lies in the formation of a government consistent with the outcomes of parliamentary elections, in which the basis of governance is based on representative democracy, In order for the new Council to implement its programs and policies that it singled out in its electoral program and won the confidence of the people accordingly.
Therefore, the government cannot impose its policies or dictate them to the Legislative Council, The role of the executive authority is to embody the electoral program that has the majority in the form of general development plans in the light of the general policies set by the electoral program and adopted by the ministerial statement read by the Prime Minister-designate before the Legislative Council, on the basis of which the formed government is granted confidence or not, The Council of Ministers culminates in the general budget plan that is presented to the Legislative Council for approval, which must be consistent with the parliamentary electoral program and even embody and devote its practical application. Otherwise, the fate of that budget is going to nothing.
He continued in the study entitled The Role of the Palestinian Legislative Council in Making Public Policies
Secondly: Legislative impact and policies by us:
A contemplation of the legislative impact and past practices of the legislature during its previous term senses It stands on many decisions that involve the binding language of the executive authority, We can be guided by some of those decisions as follows:
1- The provisions of the Palestinian Legislative Council Resolution No. (718/4A/9) in its ninth session – the first period, In its fourth special session held in Ramallah and Gaza on Wednesday, 25/8/2004: (Ninth: .. 4- Implementation of all decisions of the Council related to the executive authority, especially those related to the Monetary Authority and the General Control Authority) attached
2- The provisions of the Palestinian Legislative Council Resolution No. (379/5/4) in its fourth session – the first period in its fifth session held in Ramallah on Tuesday, 25/5/1999: (First: Request to the Ministry of Education: 1- Obliging universities and colleges to abide by the rules and regulations when claiming rights. 2- Applying a unified cadre for Palestinian universities in the periodic allowance, end-of-service gratuity, savings, academic promotions system and sabbatical leave. 3- Emphasizing that no program is accredited in Palestinian universities that does not meet the necessary requirements, and that universities bear responsibility for non-accredited programs. 4- Obliging Palestinian universities to accept numbers commensurate with their absorptive capacity as determined by the Ministry of Higher Education and not to give the violating university its share of university support allocations. attachment
3- The provisions of the Palestinian Legislative Council Resolution No. (238/26/2) in its second session – the second period in its twenty-sixth session held in Ramallah on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 6-7-8/1/1998, taking into account: (Recommendations of the Budget and Financial Affairs Committee. Discussions and observations of the fellow members. Decides 🙁 Second: Oblige the Ministry of Youth and Sports to distribute the resources available to it in a fair manner according to its actual needs and in accordance with the needs of its sports and youth institutions.
Abstract:
-
Denying the binding decisions of the Legislative Council is like denying the father’s paternity to his son. Considering that the government emerges from the womb of the elected council, When the majority party is tasked with forming the government, During his ministerial statement, he embodies the program of his party, on the basis of which he won the parliamentary majority, He was elected by the people.
-
The meaning of Article (5) of the Palestinian Basic Law and its amendments of 2005 constitutes the most important basis for the obligatory parliamentary work. Which enshrines the system of government in Palestine as a representative democratic system, The Government is directly accountable to the President and the Legislative Council.
. The depth of the executive authority’s attachment to the legislative authority, whether or not it exists, derives from the will of the Palestinian legislator when explicitly stipulating that:
. The immediate resignation of the government immediately after the start of the term of the new assembly, the aim of which is to enable the elected majority in the new assembly to implement its electoral program, which is based on the choice of the people.
. The basis of the confidence granted by the Legislative Council to the government is based on the latter’s adoption of the policies and strategies of the elected Council announced during its electoral program.
. The importance of the electoral program and its role comes within the bases and conditions on which the candidacy of a list for the elections to the Legislative Council is accepted, a copy of which is required to be submitted during the candidacy period and announced to the public.
The binding force of the decisions of the Legislative Council comes from the will of the legislator when adopting the system of government in Palestine as a representative system, This is enshrined through the tools of force, binding and control, the most dangerous of which is the interrogation system, the most dangerous of which is the interrogation system, the results of which rise to the level of destroying its existence upon the fulfillment of Article 83, paragraph 2, of the Palestinian Basic Law, which states: (After a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister or the Prime Minister and his Government, or at least one-third of the number of ministers).
The practices and policies of our (first chamber) derive from their decisions many meanings and vocabulary that tend to bind the executive authority to the decisions of the legislative council, Although sometimes it comes in the form of a request from the executive branch, unless it carries in its content the obligatory phrases, In particular, those that are made up are issued based on the voting system and the majority in the legislature.
Finally: Standing on the crusts without delving into the depth of the text, Whoever claims that the decisions of the Legislative Council are not binding, It is as if the people argue in front of the frankness of the texts and their purposes, just as the children of Israel argued about the slaughter of the cow. In front of this, we do not need to divide parliamentary decisions into administrative decisions, legislative or regulatory decisions, or… etc All acts of the legislature in accordance with its regulations, discussed, voted on and obtained a majority, It is legislation, whether these acts are taken in the guise of a decision or appear as a law. And because the people are the source of powers, i.e. the source of obligation, The basis of the binding power of the legislative authority stems from its parliamentary representation that represents the system of government in Palestine. and by being elected by the entire people.
Based on the foregoing, we quote our recommendation from the doctrine of what has risen to our awareness and awareness in understanding the aforementioned texts as follows:
-
The electoral program of the parliamentary bloc with the majority is the basis for drawing up public policies and strategies, and it is the first pillar that determines whether or not the government should give confidence in front of the parliamentary bloc with the majority.
2 . All acts of the Legislative Council issued in its parliamentary capacity under the dome of Parliament in accordance with the voting system and the majority shall be binding when it obtains the majority established by law, whether it is an absolute majority, an absolute majority of the Council, a relative majority or a two-thirds majority.
