Allister protests intended gagging of MEPs
01 March 2008
At a meeting of the European Parliament's Constitutional Affairs Committee in Brussels, Traditional Unionist MEP, Jim Allister, protested against a proposal to restrict MEPs to 3 Written Parliamentary Questions per month.
The proposal is being made by British Labour MEP, Richard Corbett, as the rapporteur on proposals by a Working Party on Parliamentary Reform.
Describing the proposal as "a monstrous attempt to gag elected members in the performance of their duties on behalf of constituents", Mr Allister said no other Parliament, worthy of the name, would ever contemplate such an anti-democratic proposal. "Thus", declared the Ulster MEP, "far from the Reform Treaty enhancing parliamentary democracy, as claimed by its proponents, the anti-democratic forces that drive European centralisation are now in the business of gagging elected members."
Mr Allister challenged Commission Vice-President Margot Wallstrom as to whether the Commission was driving this proposal to restrict parliamentarians. She denied that and contradicted a claim in Mr Corbett's report that the Commission has strongly complained about the number of Questions. This caused Mr Allister to challenge Corbett as to why his report made this claim.
It is expected that a lively debate will ensue as the recommendation proceeds through committee and the plenary of the Parliament.
