ABSTRACT
The parliaments elected since the early 1990s, however, have remained an exception in several respects. Comparatively speaking, they can be seen as more effective than the JSs elected in the past, resolving many issues that divided the dominant political forces for a long time, and introducing many reforms to strengthen the parliament. At the risk of repetition, reference can be made to the restoration of the parliamentary system of government and the establishment of a separate Parliament Secretariat by the fifth parliament, the introduction of the provision for holding elections under NCGs by the sixth parliament and the decision of the seventh parliament to make several procedural innovations, such as the introduction of the PMQT, the reform of the committee system and the decision to broadcast/telecast parliamentary proceedings live on radio/ television. The ‘new’ parliaments also fared better than their predecessors, probing more frequently, if not always deeply, into the operations of the government and raising more constituency and other issues. The number of motions actually moved and discussed in the ‘new’ parliaments surpassed all previous records.
