Question Time and Prime Minister’s hour do not represent effective mechanisms for parliamentary control of the executive. In order to increase the effects of these control mechanisms in practice, they should be prescribed more precise and detailed. It is necessary to enable their frequent use, as it is regulated in the EU member countries and countries in the region. MPs should pose questions without the notification 48 hours prior to the start of the parliamentary session, or should notify their questions only few hours before.
Question should be posed according to the established order, with the due respect towards time frame for questions and replies. That would affect the speed, efficiency and interactivity of using these mechanisms.
Parliamentary sessions related to questions of the MPs should be held frequently, at least once a month. This is the practice in other countries in the region.
Having monthly sessions reserved for Question Time and Prime Minister’s Hour would strengthen parliamentary oversight over the executive.
It is necessary to make the number and content of the parliamentary questions in the current mandate or content of debates regarding these questions available on the Parliament’s web site. That would increase the level of transparency of the Parliament’s work and bring us closer to the practice in the countries in the region.
Milica Popović, M. Sc
Project Associate
