Restructuring suffers setback as Senate reviews 1999 Constitution

The Senate on Wednesday rejected the constitution alteration bill, which sought the devolution of powers.


This represents a major setback for the clamour for restructuring, as passing the bill would have moved some items from the bloated Exclusive List in the 1999 Constitution to the Concurrent List and would have given more powers to the states.

The devolution of powers bill, which sought to alter the Second Schedule, Part I & II of the constitution, was defeated with 48 no votes. 46 senators voted for it, while one lawmaker abstained.

The Land Use Act and affirmative action bills also suffered defeats in the upper legislative chamber, during the electronic voting on the 33 bills presented to amend the 1999 Constitution.

Of the 33 bills, the lawmakers passed 29 and rejected four.