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Parliament Turns Page

New Parliament regulation brings significant reforms in its operation. The Speaker of the House, Philippos Petsalnikos said reforms would upgrade the role of the Parliament, improve operation and effectiveness of modern parlamentarianism to the benefit of the citizens and rebuild credibility of politicians and politics. The Parliament turns page said Ph. Petsalnikos in his speech and stressed: “…the Parliament must be continuously projected as the body of substantial deliberations and exchange of views in order to deal with the problems of the Greek people in the best and more effective way”.
Rebuild Credibility
The proposal for reforms in the Parliament regulation will be mainly based on the principals of transparency and meritocracy.
To meet the above principals there is proposal for change in procedures for submission of draft-bills, establishing obligatory stage of public deliberation before submission of a draft-bill. From so on each draft-bill will be accompanied by a report on the public deliberation and report on the impacts of the regulation.
Debate on a draft-bill will be held in two stages by the competent Parliament Committee. Members of the Committee will have the right to submit questions, propose improvements, submit proposals to the competent Minister through the head of the Committee. All special permanent committees will have the same rights provided the draft-bill is related to its competency.
To strengthen transparency in Parliamentary procedures there is proposal for generalization of open committee and subcommittees’ meetings and time limit for submission of draft-bills till Thursday evening and amendments till Friday at noon to prevent abuse of regulations and surprise legislative measures.
Strengthen Parliament’s Role
To prevent intransparency phenomena, the inspection role of the Parliament will be strengthened, mainly in the sector of state expenses. A Special Permanent Committee for Armament programs and Contracts will be set up , which will examine and monitor the implementation of armament programs and contracts for defense material.
The significant innovation is a regulation providing for the Committee’s briefing prior to the signing of contracts over 20 million euros.
New regulations upgrade the competences of the Institutions and Transparency Committee which will have the authority to audit civil servants and judicial officials while the Parliament Plenum will hold debate on its report. A Special Permanent Committee for the monitoring of developments in the Social Security system will be set up.
Limit Deputies’ Immunity
A most significant reform is limit of deputy immunity which will be lifted for any cases not linked with the political activity of a deputy. In other words deputy immunity will not cover any actions of a deputy that have no relation to his political activity.
Politicians’ Source of Income Posted in the Internet
Another significant move to boost transparency is the posting in the Internet of politicians’ source of income so people can check their financial situation at any time. The Speaker of House has proposed posting of source of income for judicial officials, journalists and senior state officials.
Cuts in Parliament Expenses
The Parliament actively participating in the country’s exit from the financial crisis has cut expenses and it is foreseen that expenses will be down 24 million euros more than provided by 2010 budget.
(source: ana-mpa, net)

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