Powers
Under the Constitution of the Fifth Republic (18 July 1999), the National Assembly has oversight of the executive in voting on legislation, overriding a Presidential veto, voting no confidence in the Prime Minister, and the reserved right of nominating the Prime Minister. As well, the Assembly has recourse to publicly investigate the executive through committee hearings, hearing in plenary sittings, commissions of enquiry, formal parliamentary questions, "Question Time", and Interpellations. There is no formal parliamentary ombudsman oversight of government.
Under a presidential system of government briefly instituted in 2009–2010, the National Assembly had no power over the selection of the Prime Minister and could not hold a vote of no confidence in the government; however, it also could not be dissolved by the President. As part of the constitutional change, the introduction of a Senate was planned, at which point the National Assembly would have become the lower house of a bicameral parliament. However, all the changes proved abortive, as President Mamadou Tandja, who had orchestrated them, was ousted in a February 2010 coup.
Read more about this topic: National Assembly Of Niger
Famous quotes containing the word powers:
“The powers of the federal government ... result from the compact to which the states are parties, [and are] limited by the plain sense and intention of the instrument constituting that compact.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)
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“No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear.”
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