Paulina Quintao – MPs continue to arrive late for parliamentary sessions, according to observations made by the Judicial System of Monitoring program (JSMP).

Based on article 46 in the parliament regime, plenary sessions should start at 9am and more than 10 MPs should take part in the forum. However, JSMP observer Mateus Xavier said that in reality the plenary sessions are almost always delayed until 10am because MPs arrive late.

"Sometimes during the discussions on important laws, particularly during the vote for each article, they (MPs) just leave and this shows that they don't comply with the regulations and do not respect the plenary," he told National Parliament.

He said the failure of MPs to take part in the forum often delayed discussions and the approval process, which meant many laws remained pending. "They (MPs) should set a good example for the people who selected them to sit in parliament and not just turn up when they want to," he said.

He said the punctuality was not only an issue in the current legislature and had also affected parliamentary processes in the past. As a result, the number of issues raised at plenary discussions is often reduced in order to speed up discussions and political decisions.

Under the law, it is the parliament's duty to establish laws, monitor and make political decisions through the plenary.

Meanwhile, MP Josefa Alvares Soares Pereira said she was concerned with the situation as there as there was often not enough time to get through all the items for discussion due to plenary sessions starting late.

"It is too late – sometimes it takes one-and-a-half hours [to start], so when we have the agenda for debate, particularly to approve the laws, we cannot raise the important issues at the plenary sessions," she said. "We should fix this situation."

President of the CNRT bench Natalino dos Santos Nascimento said MPs arrived late mostly out of habit, but as a politician they should obey the regulations.

However, he said bench presidents only had a coordinating role and did not have the authority to sanction MPs for arriving late.

He said the consequences of MPs constantly arriving late was that there was no time to make political declarations as there were other important issues to prioritise.

Source: http://www.thediliweekly.com/en/news/14504-mps-constantly-late-for-parliamentary-sessions