TITLE IV. OF THE LEGISLATIVE POWER
Article 83
The legislative power is exercised by a unique chamber denominated [the] National Assembly whose members bear the title of Deputies.
The National Assembly enjoys financial autonomy.
A financial and accounting regulation determines the modalities of this financial autonomy and establishes the rules of drafting [élaboration], of adoption, of execution and of control of the budget of the National Assembly.
The budget of the National Assembly, ordered and approved by the Bureau, is annexed to the General Budget of the State.
Article 84
The Deputies are elected by universal, free, direct, equal and secret suffrage.
Nigeriens of the two (2) sexes, at least twenty-one (21) years old and enjoying their civil and political rights[,] are eligible to the National Assembly.
The lists of the political parties, of the groups of parties as well as those of the independent candidates must obligatorily include [compter], at least, 75% of [their] candidates holding, at least, the Brevet d’Études du Premier Cycle (BEPC), [Certificate of Studies of the First Cycle] or its equivalent and 25%, at most, of [their candidates] not fulfilling this condition.
Within this quota, the special circumscriptions are integrated within the regions to which they belong.
An organic law establishes the number of members of the National Assembly, the indemnity of the Deputies and the benefits [avantages], their conditions of eligibility, the regime of ineligibilities and of incompatibilities, the modality of the ballot as well as the conditions under which the vacancy of [a] seat of [a] Deputy is provided for.
Article 85
The duration of a legislature is of five (5) years. The general elections for the renewal of the National Assembly take place sixty (60) days at least and ninety (90) days at most prior to the end of the current legislature.
Article 86
The Constitutional Court decides on the eligibility of the candidates.
It equally decides on the validity of the election of the Deputies.
Article 87
Each Deputy is the representative of the Nation.
Any imperative mandate is null.
The right to vote of the Deputies is personal. However, the delegation of the vote is permitted when a Deputy is absent for cause of illness, for the execution of a mandate or a mission entrusted to him by the National Assembly or the Government or to fulfill his military obligations. No one may receive for one ballot more than one delegation of [the] vote.
During the legislature, any Deputy who resigns from his party loses his seat and is replaced by his substitute. The Deputy who is excluded from his party sits as an independent within [au sein de] the National Assembly. He may not, in any case, affiliate himself to another parliamentary group in the course of the legislature.
Article 88
The members of the National Assembly enjoy parliamentary immunity.
No Deputy shall be prosecuted, investigated, arrested, detained or judged for the opinions or the votes emitted by him in the exercise of his functions.
Except in the case of flagrante delicto, no Deputy may, during the duration of the sessions, be prosecuted or arrested in a correctional or criminal matter except with the authorization of the National Assembly.
No Deputy may, out of session, be arrested except with the authorization of the Bureau of the National Assembly, except in the case of flagrante delicto, of authorized prosecutions or of definitive convictions.
Article 89
The National Assembly is presided over by a President assisted by a Bureau. The composition of the Bureau must reflect the political configuration of the National Assembly.
The President is elected for the duration of the legislature and the other members of the Bureau [are elected] every year, according to the Internal Regulations of the National Assembly.
Before entering into [his] functions, the President of the National Assembly takes an oath on the Holy Book of his confession before the Constitutional Court, in these terms:
“Before God and before the sovereign Nigerien People, We …, President of the National Assembly solemnly swear on the Holy Book
- to respect and to have respected the Constitution that the People have freely given to themselves;
to loyally fulfill the high functions with which we have been invested; never to betray or misrepresent [travestir] the aspirations of the People to respect and to defend the republican form of the State; to respect and to defend the rights and freedoms of the citizens; not to take or to be guaranty [cautionner] for any measures degrading [avilissante] the human dignity; to respect and to have respected the principles of the separation of the powers; to respect and to have respected the Internal Regulations of the National Assembly; to work tirelessly for the happiness of the People; to conduct ourselves everywhere as faithful and loyal servant of the People;
In the case of perjury, may we suffer the rigors of the law.
May God help us.”
In the case of a crisis of confidence between the President of the National Assembly and the Deputies, he may be dismissed. The initiative for the dismissal is signed by half of the members composing the National Assembly. The dismissal is adopted by a majority of two-thirds (2/3) of the Deputies.
When he assures the interim of the President of the Republic within the conditions specified in the Article 53 of this Constitution, the President of the National Assembly is replaced in his functions according to the Internal Regulations of the National Assembly.
In the case of vacancy of the Presidency of the National Assembly by death, resignation or any other cause, the Assembly elects a new President within the fifteen (15) days that follow the vacancy[,] if it is in session; in the contrary case, it meets of plain right within the conditions established by the Internal Regulations.
Article 90
The National Assembly votes the law and consents to taxes.
It controls the action of the Government.
Article 91
Each year, the National Assembly meets of plain right in two ordinary sessions on the convocation of its President.
The first session opens the first week of the month of March and may not exceed ninety (90) days.
The second session, called [the] budgetary session, opens the first week of the month of October and may not exceed sixty (60) days.
Article 92
The National Assembly is convoked in extraordinary session by its President on a determined agenda, at the demand of the Prime Minister or by two-fifths (2/5) of the Deputies.
The extraordinary sessions, except in the cases where they take place of plain right, are opened and closed by decree of the President of the Republic. The closure comes as soon as the agenda is exhausted.
Their duration may not exceed fifteen (15) days.
Article 93
The sittings of the National Assembly are public.
A complete record of the debates is published in the Journal Officiel [Official Gazette].
At the request of the Prime Minister or of one-third (1/3) of the Deputies, the National Assembly may sit in closed session.
Article 94
The work of the National Assembly takes place following the Internal Regulations that it adopts in accordance with the Constitution.
The Internal Regulations determine notably:
- the composition, [and] the rules of functioning of the Bureau as well as the powers and prerogatives of its President;
the procedure of dismissal of the President of the National Assembly; the creation of commissions of inquiry and of parliamentary control as well as of missions for information within the framework of the control of the governmental action or of any matter of national interest; the number, the mode of appointment, the composition, the role and the competence of the permanent commissions as well as those that are special and temporary; the creation of parliamentary commissions of inquiry within the framework of the control of the governmental action or of any matter of national interest; the organization of the administrative services directed by a secretary-general placed under the authority of the President of the National Assembly; the disciplinary regime of the Deputies during the sittings of the National Assembly the modes of the ballot governing [régissant] the elections within the National Assembly, with the exclusion of those expressly specified by this Constitution; the conditions of exercise of the right of interpellation, the applicable rules in the matter of written and oral questions, the current issues, as well as the measures to be taken by the National Assembly concerning [à l’égard de] the Prime Minister or any member of the Government refusing to answer an interpellation or a request of information from the National Assembly; the procedure [mis en jeu] for initiating the responsibility of the Government.
