Parliament accepts public health emergency order amendment

The proposed amendment to the public health emergency order has been accepted by the parliament.

Under the amendment, such an order will be required to be presented to the parliament within 48 hours of being announced.

It was accepted by the parliament with the vote of 58 MPs and has now been forwarded to the Judiciary Committee to be reviewed.

During the debate for the amendment, MPs noted the legal issues that could arise from the amendment rather than the social and health issues.

The amendment will allow the parliament to:

• Full or partial approval of the order.
• An extension of no more than 30 days every time the order is renewed.
• Termination of the order.
• Amendments to the order as the parliament see fit.

Under the amendment, the Director-General of Public Health is required to present the order to the parliament and gain the approval of the parliament before renewing the order. The amendment also states that the approval of the parliament is required regarding any extra spending during the public health emergency if the amount required exceeds the set budget for such an emergency. Details of the expenditure is to be presented to the parliament as well.

The amendment also permits the parliament to conduct sittings wherever during the emergency under the regular rules for parliamentary sittings.