Sunday, December 26 2004 12:14 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: Asserting that Indian Parliamentarians' impression of being unruly has to change, Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee has said he would not hesitate to take action against the erring members.

"Let me make it clear that if MPs think the Speaker is not taking any harsh measures, they would get away with anything, this can't go on," the Speaker said in an interview to BBC last night (Dec 25, 2004).

"Today look at the impression about us, the Parliamentarians- the main criticism we face is that, despite so much of public money being spent on us, we fight, create unruly scenes and do not work. This is not good, and does not send a positive signal for the people of the country," he said.

"Why I am saying this is because the enlightened citizens of the country, who want to see meaningful debate in the highest forum of our Parliamentary democracy feel disappointed, when they see the unruly scenes in Parliament and are losing interest in politics altogether."

Asked whether he planned to bring about a model code of conduct in the House in consultation with all parties, the Speaker said there were already a lot of code of conducts and it was all about adhering to the existing codes.

"If one thinks that by bringing a fresh model of code of conduct for the MPs, the Parliament would start functioning, it would not be so," he added.