Parliament�s amendment of the Standing Orders is constitutional! (Part II)

It is now common cause that the Court of Appeal has upheld the High Court’s ruling that contrary to the Attorney General and the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP)’s argument, the Standing Orders are constitutional. In this, the final part, we assist you to understand why the Attorney General and the BDP’s arguments cannot have been sustained by any court of law and were destined to fail as they did.

Firstly, the courts upheld the argument that Parliament had the power to enact and/or amend the Standing Orders because in terms of section 76(1) of the Constitution, “subject to the provisions of the Constitution, the National Assembly may regulate its own procedure”. In terms thereof, Parliament properly resolved to regulate its procedure of endorsing the Vice President and electing the Speaker and Deputy Speaker by a secret ballot in terms of the Standing Orders. The BDP’s lame argument which sought to undermine the legal standing of Standing Orders as compared to an Act of Parliament did not see the light of day.