In making a motion for the National Assembly to depart from the past and take the new approach demanded by the new Standing Orders, Halifa Sallah cited Standing Order 53(m) to give legal justification for his action. He also cited Standing Order 84 to confirm that the National Assembly has the responsibility to allocate the draft budget of each ministry to a committee of the National Assembly for scrutiny.
The National Assembly has demonstrated its readiness to carry out its oversight function by unanimously accepting to assume a greater responsibility of budgetary scrutiny. The public should now show greater interest in the work of the National Assembly. Since the inception of the National Assembly, the gallery is only full to capacity when there is a function of one sort or the other. If it were not for the media houses, few people would know what the National Assembly members are doing. People should therefore get used to attending National Assembly sessions.
