Hope for better things to come are on ice after two popular opposition measures were placed on hold under a stalling maneuver masking inaction as action.
While bills advancing same-sex marriage and home brewing were forwarded for cabinet approval yesterday, the move was seen as a way to keep them in limbo. The cabinet has two months to act, after which the bills return to parliament and the cycle may be repeated indefinitely.
Progressives and opposition lawmakers of the Move Forward Party who sponsored the bills were disappointed after parliament voted narrowly to punt them down the road in a 207-196 vote.
The booze bill would provide opportunities for distillers and brewers to enter the market and stimulate competition. Outdated laws protecting the biggest monopolies make brewing essentially illegal for small-batch or craft brewers. To earn a license to…
