03 February 2005	Thursday	23 Zilhaj 1425

ISLAMABAD, Feb 2: The government has moved to introduce new rules of discipline in parliament proposing certain punitive actions against legislators involved in rowdyism.

The National Assembly's Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business Committee, which had been assigned the task of revision of the rules framed in 1992, on Wednesday finalised its proposals, with a dissenting note by opposition members.

According to the proposals, these actions include suspension of the membership of any such member for one session and stopping his/her salary and allowances for one month.

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Sher Afgan was expected to dilate on proposed changes in the rules at a news conference on Wednesday, but the conference was cancelled.

The proposed changes provide that the prime minister will be bound to respond to members' questions at least once during a session. There shall be a 'zero hour' at the end of every sitting, except on private members day in which members will be allowed to raise questions of utmost importance about ministries and functions of the government.

The question hour will be extended to 90 minutes and its nomenclature will be changed accordingly. Under revised rules, any member found violating the decorum of the house by displaying banners and placards, creating disturbance and tearing documents shall be notified by the speaker.

If the said member is so notified thrice, the speaker will stop his entry in the house for the remaining session. The government has been made responsible for the appointment of the leader of opposition within one week of the as certainment of the leader of the house on receipt of a signed list of maximum members of the opposition.

The speaker shall declare a member leader of the opposition on the basis of the count of signatures of the members in opposition, submitted to the speaker within seven days of the as certainment of the leader of the house.

The committee has proposed that all future sittings of the National Assembly will start at 3pm and run until 9pm, except for Fridays when the session will be held from 9am to 1pm. Under the changed rules, the president has been empowered to control the proceedings of his address to parliament through the speaker.

Meanwhile, talking to reporters at the parliament house, Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal's deputy secretary-general Liaquat Baloch, who was also a member of the committee, said the procedure for the appointment of the leader of opposition would be adopted by the next assembly.

Syed Naveed Qamar, a PPP Parliamentarians MNA and member of the committee, said that members belonging to the opposition had recorded their dissenting note on the procedure for the suspension of a member.