The Hindu : National : Manmohan favours all-party meet on House decorum

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Friday, May 18, 2007
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Manmohan favours all-party meet on House decorum

Special Correspondent

`Frequent disruptions of Parliament weaken democratic process'

NEW DELHI: At the end of the budget session here on Thursday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called on the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Somnath Chatterjee, to suggest that he convene a meeting of party leaders during the inter-session period to seriously consider ways to ensure that all parties adhered to the basic parliamentary rules of procedure.

The Speaker is expected to take up this suggestion considering that in the second part of the budget session that ended on Thursday — a few days ahead of the announced schedule — it was calculated that the Lok Sabha lost more than 34 per cent of its working time as a result of disruptions while the Upper House lost more than 43 per cent time.

Dasmunsi's hope

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi said that he hoped that a leaders' meeting on this subject would lead to something concrete and positive for Parliament was the only proper forum where issues of urgent national importance were discussed and ought to be discussed. "Frequent disruptions of Parliament can only weaken the democratic process so this issue needs to be taken up seriously," he added.

He also pointed out that the early adjournment of the two Houses was "not a Government proposal. It was agreed to on the basis of a consensus."

He also reminded reporters that there were only three working days left according to the initial schedule and the Lok Sabha had met on a Saturday to help pass the demands for grants ahead of the passing of the Finance Bill in the subsequent week. He did regret that several bills had to be passed amid din and uproar in Parliament and that was not a good thing.

Mr. Dasmunsi also promised a "round of political consultations" during the inter-session period to "narrow down political differences on the women's reservation issue."

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