The House of Peoples’ Representatives (HPR) approved a revised law that grants the House of Federation (HoF) the right to directly involve in resolving inter-state or Federal-State government disputes and misunderstandings, without the request of parties to a conflict.
The Parliament, on the last day of its sixth-year final parliamentary session held on Wednesday, July 7, 2021, changed the 20 year-old proclamation and authorized the HoF the right to seek a solution on its own initiative.
Under the amended law, the HoF is responsible to creating conducive conditions where concerned parties could continue their discussions, identifying the cause of the dispute or misunderstanding; forcing the parties to present their differences in writing within a specific period and/or produce all pieces of evidence in their possession.
Besides these, the HoF can gather additional evidence, conduct researches or study the disputed cases by its own, to give a final decision or give orders to concerned bodies of the government to execute the decision of the House and submit a report.
According to the Deputy Government Whip, Mesfin Cherinet, the proclamation was amended due to the apparent inability of the HoF to carry out its constitutional mandate effectively and efficiently in light of current public needs and demands.
Under previous provisions, the HoF did not have the capacity to take action against disputes between federal and state parties unless one or both parties to a dispute had put in a request.
Similarly, the new law also stipulates that the House would decide on requests submitted by nationalities to practice their rights to self-determination within two years. But before making its final decision, it will perform key functions, such as conducting researches and consulting the public on the agenda.
Meanwhile, the Parliament has also approved a USD 1.1 billion credit financing agreement with the World Bank in its 5th extraordinary meeting.
