First sitting of the new parliament will take place on Monday

The first sitting of the new parliament after the general elections will take place on Monday.

The swearing in of the members of parliament will be done in this parliament sitting together with the selection of the Speaker of Parliament, the Deputy Speaker and the Leader of Opposition.

Speaking during the Parliament Induction Pre-Sitting Workshop, the Acting Secretary General, Viniana Namosimalua says the aim of the workshop is to provide the new and returning MPs with the basic information of parliament procedures.

Namosimalua says that parliamentarians are representatives of the people and they will come up with the issues that have been raised by the people that voted them in.

Namosimalua says that a secret ballot will be done where the MPs will select who they want to be the Speaker.

Namosimalua says that the Secretary General will preside over the swearing in of MPs and the appointment of the Speaker.

She says once the Speaker is appointed, then the Speaker will preside over the selection of the Deputy Speaker and the Leader of Opposition.

While speaking at the Parliament Induction Pre-Sitting, Speaker Dr. Jiko Luveni said that more people now understand that when members of parliament shout at each other during debates, that it is normal parliamentary exchanges and the onus is on the Speaker to keep control.

Luveni says that it is an exciting period in the life of our democratic government as parliament offers such a unique opportunity to develop and deepen the democratic culture.

She says that in the last four years, the role of parliament expanded to be more people friendly.