HOUSE BUSINESS: Speaking Parliament — the words you will hear and what they mean

By MakanDay Editor

Last week, HOUSE BUSINESS explained what happens before Zambia’s new national assembly gets down to work — from the swearing-in of MPs to the election of the speaker and deputy speakers.

As the 14^th national assembly begins its work, you will hear MPs, journalists and parliamentary officials use words such as sitting, session, motion, order paper, Hansard and point of order.

They may sound technical, but they describe processes through which MPs make laws, question Government and represent citizens.

Here are some of the terms worth knowing.

Session and sitting — they are not the same

A session is a period of parliamentary business lasting no more than 12 months. It begins with the first sitting after a general election or after the previous session has been formally ended, and ends with prorogation or dissolution.

A sitting, on the other hand, is simply one parliamentary working day — from the moment the Speaker takes the Chair until the House adjourns for the day.

In simple terms: Parliament can have many sittings during one session.

Meeting

There is another layer between the two. A meeting is a series of sittings beginning when the assembly is summoned and ending when it adjourns sine die — meaning without fixing the next sitting date.

Think of it this way: a session contains meetings, and meetings contain sittings.

Order Paper

The Order Paper is parlianent’s agenda for a particular sitting. It tells you what business MPs are expected to deal with that day. An order of the day is business carried over from a previous sitting.

For citizens, the order paper is one of the easiest ways of knowing what parlianent is about to discuss.

Motion

A motion is a proposal asking the house to decide or express a position on a particular matter.

If you hear that an MP has “moved a motion”, it means the MP has formally put a proposal before the house for consideration.

Point of Order

A point of order is not simply an MP disagreeing with another MP. It is an declaration that a parliamentary rule, procedure or privilege has been breached.

Hansard

The hansard is the verbatim report of proceedings of the house. It provides the written record of what MPs actually said in Parliament. The Clerk of the National Assembly is responsible for its production.

For citizens, journalists and researchers, this matters: when there is disagreement over what an MP said in parliament, the hansard provides the parliamentary record.

HOUSE BUSINESS will continue translating these procedures into ordinary language — following the questions MPs ask, the laws they debate, the answers ministers give and, where the record allows, how MPs vote.