Hyderabad: Voicing serious concern over frequent breach of code of conduct and lack of discipline among Parliamentarians, Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi on October 22 said the prestige and decorum of the Legislature was "going down' and Parliamentary control over the executive was eroding because of members' pre-occupation with political issues.

In a candid assessment of the functioning of Parliamentary Democracy in the country, Joshi spoke of "difficulties" in implementing the code of conduct as the "very framers of these rules and procedures are breaking them".

"The code of conduct is ready and rules and procedures have also been framed. But, the very people who framed them are breaking them," he said and asked all political parties to sit together and arrive at a consensus on how to effectively implement the code of conduct.

Joshi was speaking after inaugurating the 14th Commonwealth Parliamentary seminar here, being attended by presiding officers from across the country and abroad including United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Namibia and Maldives.

Deviating from the prepared text, the Speaker touched upon a host of issues including declining Parliamentary control over the executive and its financial accountability, overlapping of the powers of the judiciary and legislature, role of presiding officers in maintaining dignity and decorum of the House and emerging threat of terrorism.

Stating that "temples of Democracy" should not become fora for members to highlight their "private interests" rather than public issues, Joshi decried tendency among some members to disrupt the proceedings by rushing to the podium and resorting to rude behaviour.

"This has to be stopped. The prestige and decorum of the temples of democracy is going down. It is time to wake up and mend ways," the Speaker said.

Emphasising that collective wisdom of Parliament must always prevail over the executive, he said "Parliamentary control over the executive is reducing to a large extent because of non-issues being discussed in Parliament and Assemblies".

Parliamentary surveillance, he said, was vital to check executive misuse. "Parliamentarians must seriously think whether they have necessary control over executive actions. Ultimate aim must be public welfare," he said.

The five-day seminar, would deliberate on a host of challenges facing parliamentarians including ethical standards for legislators, growing threat of terrorism, impact of information technology on functioning of parliaments and issues of discipline and decorum.

As many as 30 delegates from abroad are participating in the deliberations spread over ten sessions.

Referring to criticism in some quarters that judiciary was encroaching upon the rights of people's representatives, Joshi said the courts could intervene either suo moto or on the basis of a public interest litigation if the legislature and executive fail to take timely action to redress public grievances.

PTI