MPs admitted several violations at the first sitting of the spring session of Parliament. Promo-LEX findings
Parliament's first plenary session of the 2023 spring session was held with violations of several legislative procedures. In the view of Promo-LEX Association, which is once again this year monitoring the organisation of plenary sessions, the procedure for the preparation and the procedure for the approval and publication of the agenda of the first session of the Parliament has not been respected.
Transparency of decision-making was also compromised in the case of 12 drafts voted on at the sitting of 2 February 2023, which is 52% of the total number.
"We remark that for 2 drafts the Government (1) and PAS MPs (1) requested priority consideration. We should note that in the case of the draft submitted at the initiative of PAS MPs it is not clear the legal basis and the reason for granting priority, as the Parliament's Rules of Procedure regulate granting priority to the proposals of the President (Art. 42), the Prime Minister (Art. 43) and the parliamentary opposition (Art. 431) when drawing up the agenda", the Promo-LEX report says.
Five reports of the standing committees were not published on the day of the plenary session, and in the case of 9 draft legislative acts - the related acts. The Association also found that the deadline for submitting recommendations to stakeholders was not respected for one draft. At the same time, one draft law was registered and included on the agenda on the day of the sitting, was voted on in two readings and was not published on the Parliament's official website.
Promo-LEX also points out that the President of the Parliament should have imposed or proposed sanctions on BCS MPs for disrupting the work of the plenary by blocking the central rostrum and engaging in exchanges between BCS and PAS MPs.
In this context, Promo-LEX urges the MPs to refrain from disturbing the order and interrupting the work of the Parliament, and the Speaker to ensure order and respect for the Rules of the Legislature.
On 2 February, Parliament convened for its first plenary session of the 2023 spring session.
