Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1272808,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1272808/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 25,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "House to either approve to hold morning Sittings on Thursdays or extend its sittings to create more time for consideration of the said business. As you may have noticed, from the Order Paper for the afternoon sitting of Wednesday, 26th July 2023, and on today's Order Paper, several individual Members’ Bills have been slotted for Second Reading. This practice will continue for the rest of this Session as the House Business Committee endeavours to facilitate Members to effectively discharge their constitutional mandate. It is important for Committees to appreciate that it is the desire of every Member to have a Bill published in their name, expeditiously considered and passed by the House. However, unless all Committees prioritize consideration of Bills, the efforts of the House Business Committee to create time for consideration of individual Members’ Bills in the House will be in vain. To this end, I urge all Committees to prioritize consideration of Bills and legislative proposals undergoing pre-publication scrutiny. For greater certainty, I remind Committees that Standing Order 114(7) requires a Committee to which a legislative proposal is committed to submit a report within 30 days. Should it be brought to my attention that any Committee has inordinately delayed undertaking pre-publication scrutiny of legislative proposals before them, I will cause the House Business Committee, which I chair, to follow the precedent set in 2019 to have such proposals published as Bills without any further recourse to the relevant Committees. To this end, Hon, Members, I direct all Committees to consider and conclude all legislative proposals before them and to submit their reports as soon as possible. Given the timelines for consideration lapsed long ago on many Bills, going forward, may I remind Committee Chairpersons that Committees are under obligation to adhere to the 30-day timeline without fail. Further, all Committees that have Bills pending public participation are directed to expedite the process of consideration and table reports on the respective Bills within the timelines spelt out in Standing Order 127(4) in order to facilitate prioritization of the Bills for Second Reading. Hon. Members, as the House creates time for individual Members’ Bills, the onus is also on the Members to be available in the House and prosecute their respective businesses once scheduled. 1 hasten to state that whenever a sponsor of a Bill or other business listed in the Order Paper is absent from the House without permission from the Speaker, such business shall stand deferred and will not be prioritized again. I say this, Hon. Members, because last week 10 Motions listed on the Order Paper were called out and none of the 10 sponsors of those Motions was in the House. This wastes our House’s time. I urge all the Members, starting with the Leadership of the Majority and Minority Parties, to encourage Members who have business before the House to ensure that by the time the House starts, you are in the House. Equally important, if your matter is listed at 10 down the line, you do not have to hang out there thinking that you will come later. Other businesses ahead of you may collapse and you may be reached within the shortest time possible."
}