During the closing ceremony of the first ordinary session of the Sénat, President Huguette Yvonne Nyana Ekoume-Awori issued a firm appeal to the executive branch. She advocated for a significant overhaul of parliamentary operations, specifically requesting an “equal transmission of texts” between the National Assembly and the Sénat to uphold the true spirit of bicameralism.
The Sénat seeks respect for its legislative role
The head of the upper house emphasized that the constitutional framework should not relegate the institution to a mere rubber-stamping body. She argued that the Sénat must not be forced to simply follow the government’s shifting timeline. While acknowledging that certain documents, such as budget laws and constitutional amendments, follow specific priority rules, the President insisted on a new approach for depositing other draft bills.
Addressing Vice-President Hermann Immongault and several cabinet members, Huguette Yvonne Nyana Ekoume-Awori pushed for greater efficiency and speed in the legislative process. By distributing bills fairly and alternately between both houses from the start, the executive could resolve persistent structural issues that hinder parliamentary duties.
Restoring this balance aims to solve two major problems. First, it would end the chronic backlog of cases that often accumulates in a single chamber. Second, it would protect the quality of legislation, which is frequently compromised by a “dictatorship of urgency” that undermines thorough deliberation. This institutional call for order seeks to foster better cooperation between branches of government, ensuring the Sénat‘s prerogatives are respected during the law-making process.
