The vote on the public information access bill, expected during the first parliamentary session, has been postponed indefinitely. Civil society actors are now calling for its inclusion on the agenda of the extraordinary session. Access to closed-door parliamentary debates and the possibility of making them public are causing concern among deputies.
The question "When?" is becoming increasingly pressing behind the scenes regarding the public information access bill (LACIP). Civil society actors are asking: "When will it be adopted and come into force?"
The bill was already scheduled for the first ordinary session of the National Assembly, which ended early this month. It had been validated in committee work and scheduled for debate and vote in plenary session on May 18. However, deputies decided to postpone examination of the text indefinitely.
Since this postponement, the lower chamber has remained silent on how it intends to proceed with examining the bill. Access to public information is presented as a guarantee of transparency in public affairs and as a safeguard against corruption and related offenses. The right to information is also enshrined in the Constitution.
"Every individual has the right to information. Information, in all its forms, is subject to no prior constraint, except that which affects public order and morality. Freedom of information, regardless of its medium, is a right," states the fundamental law.
Civil society voices are therefore calling for the public information access bill to be included on the agenda of the next extraordinary session of the National Assembly.
The closed-door question
At the deputies' request, last week's Council of Ministers convened an extraordinary session. Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko, president of the Tsimbazaza institution, justified this request by stating that several texts await examination and vote, without specifying which ones. The Constitution requires that the decree convening an extraordinary session also specify its agenda.
To date, the decree convening this extraordinary session has not yet reached the National Assembly. Neither the date nor the agenda of this session, which must not exceed twelve days, are yet known. Behind the scenes, efforts are underway to ensure the public information access bill is included among the subjects on the agenda of upcoming parliamentary work.
Debates on this bill date back over twenty years. A draft law was prepared in 2006. The text did not progress beyond the stage of Council of Ministers discussions until its inclusion on the agenda of the last parliamentary session. Civil society actors regret that the matter was postponed indefinitely.
"Twenty years of obstruction and another parliamentary session: still no public information access law. At this point, this is no longer a delay: it is political refusal," protests Transparency International Initiative Madagascar (TI-MG).
According to TI-MG, "by preventing this law from being passed, Parliament is deliberately slowing the fight against corruption and depriving citizens of the right to access public information. This delay must end. With a score of 25/100 on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), Madagascar can no longer afford to indefinitely postpone this law."
According to reports, one of the main points causing deputies' hesitation about adopting this law concerns the question of closed-door parliamentary debates.