The Speaker of the National Assembly, as Chairperson, presented the First Report of the Rules Committee of the National Assembly, dated 21 June 2002, as follows:
107. (1) Except as otherwise provided in these Rules or with the prior consent of the Speaker _
(a) notice must be given of each question by placing it on the
Question Paper;
(b) no question for oral reply may be asked on the day on which
notice thereof is given.
(2) A member who wants to give notice of a question must deliver to the Secretary, for placement on the Question Paper, a signed copy of the notice, indicating the day on which the question will be put.
(3) Questions delivered to the Secretary before 12:00 on any working day may appear on the Question Paper on the second sitting day thereafter and not earlier.
(4) Subject to rules 108(7), 110(3) and 111, the Secretary must place the questions on the Question Paper in the order in which they are received.
(5) No question may be addressed to any person other than a member of the Cabinet.
(6) If a notice of a question offends against the practice or these Rules the Speaker may either amend the question or return it to the member who submitted it.
(7) A member may give notice or take charge of a question on behalf of an absent member if the member has been authorised to do so by the absent member.
Part 2: Questions for oral reply
Form and arrangement of questions
108. (1) A member who wants an oral reply to a question must write the words "for oral reply" on the copy of the notice of the question delivered to the Secretary in terms of rule 107(2).
(2) A question for oral reply may not contain more than five subdivisions.
(3) If the Speaker is of the opinion that a question deals with a matter of a statistical nature, the Speaker may direct that the question be placed on the Question Paper for written reply.
(4) Questions for oral reply are limited to two questions per member per question day.
(5) The restrictions imposed by subrule (4) and by rules 109(5), 110(4) and 111(5) do not apply to questions _
(a) approved as urgent questions in terms of rule 112;
(b) standing over in terms of rule 114(2)(a) or 115(1); or
(c) transferred from written to oral reply in terms of rule 117.
(6) A question that is submitted for oral reply must be placed on the Question Paper for reply at least six working days prior to the Question day on which it is to be replied to.
(7) An authorised representative of a party may before 12:00 on the Wednesday before the question day on which questions put by members of that party are to be answered, notify the Secretary in writing of the order in which those questions are to be placed on the Question Paper.
(8) Questions that cannot be placed on the Question Paper for oral reply because of quotas must be placed as questions for written reply.
(9) The sequence of questions on the Question Paper rotates without interruption for the duration of an annual session according to the order in which members of the respective parties may put questions. That order is determined by the Chief Whips' Forum from time to time.
NOTE: Appropriate amendment to Rule 221 (Functions and Powers of Chief Whips' Forum) requires consideration.
Questions to Ministers
109. (1) Questions for oral reply by Ministers must be dealt with in accordance with three clusters of portfolios of government affairs, as determined from time to time by the Chief Whips' Forum after consultation with the Leader of Government Business, and published in the ATC.
NOTE: Appropriate amendment to Rule 221 (Functions and Powers of Chief Whips' Forum) requires consideration.
(2) The clusters rotate on a weekly basis, so that questions relating to each respective cluster are answered every third question day (subject to subrules (3) and (4)).
(3) If a Minister is absent on a day when questions relating to the relevant cluster are to be answered and those questions are not answered by another Cabinet Member or by the Deputy Minister concerned, the Speaker may, if requested to do so by the member in whose name a question to that Minister stands, and after consultation with the Leader of Government Business, direct that _
(a) questions to that Minister be placed on the Question Paper for
the first question session for Ministers following that day; and
(b) an additional 30 minutes be added to the question time for that session.
(4) Questions to Ministers must not be scheduled for a day on which the President is scheduled to answer questions in the Assembly.
(5) The number of questions to a Minister is limited to ten questions per question day in respect of any one department of state.
(6) Where the order in which questions are put to Ministers according to rule 108(9) is interrupted at the end of a question session, the next question session to Ministers starts from the point where the order was so interrupted.
Questions to Deputy President
110. (1) Questions to the Deputy President must be scheduled for a question day once every second week.
(2) If that day falls within a week in which-
(a) the President is scheduled to answer questions in the Assembly; or
(b) the Deputy President is scheduled to answer questions in the Council,
questions to the Deputy President must not be scheduled for that week, but for the following week.
(3) Questions to the Deputy President have precedence over questions to Ministers.
(4) The number of questions to the Deputy President is limited to four questions per question day.
(5) Where the order in which questions are put to the Deputy President according to rule 108(9) is interrupted at the end of a question session to the Deputy President, the next question session to the Deputy President starts from the point where the order was so interrupted.
(6) Notwithstanding rule 107, questions to the Deputy President must be submitted by party representatives in prioritized order before 12:00 on the Monday 9 days before the Question day on which they are to be answered.
Questions to President
111. (1) Questions to the President must be -
(a) scheduled for a question day at least once per term in accordance with the annual Parliamentary programme; and
(b) limited to matters of national and international importance
(2) All other questions relating to the Presidency must be directed to the Deputy President or the Minister in the Presidency.
(3) Questions to the President must be submitted to the Secretary before 12:00 on the Monday, 16 days before the question day on which they are to be answered.
(4) The Secretary must submit the questions to the Speaker for approval.
(5) The number of questions to the President is limited to six questions per Question day.
(6) Where the order in which questions are put to the President according to rule 108(9) is interrupted at the end of a question session, the next question session to the President starts from the point where the order was so interrupted.
Urgent questions
112. (1) A member may, with the permission of the Speaker, place an urgent question for oral reply on the Question Paper for a question day on which such a question would not normally be dealt with.
(2) A member who wants to place an urgent question on the Question
Paper must deliver a signed copy of the question to the Speaker before 12:00 on the Tuesday in the week preceding the week in which the question is to be answered, clearly indicating that it is an urgent question.
(3) The Speaker must consult the Leader of Government Business before approving an urgent question.
(4) If the Speaker approves an urgent question, it must appear on the Question Paper before or on the Friday of the week preceding the week in which the question is to be answered.
Times allotted and time limits
113. (1) Questions for oral reply have precedence on Wednesdays.
(2) The time allotted for questions is two hours.
(3) The reply to a question is limited to three minutes but if the presiding officer is of the opinion that the matter is of sufficient importance an additional two minutes may be allowed.
(4) In respect of each question, four supplementary questions may be asked.
(5) The member in whose name a question stands or who takes charge of a question in terms of rule 107(7), must be given the first opportunity to ask a supplementary question.
(6) A member who asks a supplementary question may make a statement or express an opinion, but may not speak for more than one minute.
(7) A supplementary question may not consist of more than one question.
(8) The reply to a supplementary question is limited to two minutes.
Unanswered questions
114. (1) Replies to questions for oral reply which have not been reached at the end of the time allotted on a question day must be submitted in writing to the Secretary for inclusion in the Official Report of the Debates of the Assembly.
(2) If a reply to such a question is not received by the Secretary by 12:00 on the Thursday following the question day concerned _
(a) the question must be regarded as standing over; and
(b) in the case of a question that has stood over in terms of (a) or rule115(1) from a previous question day, the Question Paper must be endorsed to the effect that the question has not been replied to.
(3) Subrule (1) does not apply where questions to a Minister are put on the Question Paper for the following question day in terms of a direction by the Speaker under rule 109(3).
Questions standing over
115. (1) A question for oral reply must stand over if the person to whom it is
addressed _
(a) so requests, either in the Assembly when the question comes up for reply, or by notice in writing to the Secretary before the start of question time on the day for which it is on the Question Paper; or
(b) is not present in the Assembly when the question comes up for reply and the question is not replied to by someone else on his or her behalf.
(2) Subject to a direction by the Speaker under rule 109(3), a question that stands over in terms of subrule (1) or rule 114(2) must be -
(a) placed on the Question Paper for reply on the next question day on which the person to whom it is addressed is scheduled to reply to questions; and
(b) must be published at the end of the Question Paper, but may be prioritised in terms of rule 108(7).
(3) A question for oral reply may not stand over more than once.
(4) If a question standing over is not answered, either orally or in terms of rule 114(1) the Question Paper must be endorsed to the effect that the question has not been replied to.
Part 3: Questions for written reply
Form and placing of questions
116. (1) A question for written reply _
(a) may be placed on the Question Paper for any working day
(b) must be delivered to the Secretary before 12:00 on the
Tuesday of the week during which it is to be placed on the
Question Paper for reply.
(2) A question for written reply may not contain more than 15 subdivisions.
(3) Questions for written reply are limited to three questions per member per week.
(4) The restriction imposed by subrule (3) does not apply to questions referred to in rule 108(8).
(5) If a question standing over is not answered, either orally or in terms of rule 114(1), the Question Paper must be endorsed to the effect that the question has not been replied to.
Written reply not given
117. (1) If the responsible Cabinet member has not replied in writing to a question within 10 working days of the day for which the question was set down for written reply, and the member in whose name the question stands, or who takes charge of a question in terms of rule 107(7), so requests, the Secretary must place the question on the Question Paper for oral reply.
(2) If a reply to a question placed on the Question Paper for oral reply in terms of subrule (1) is submitted in writing to the Secretary not later than 12:00 on the Question day on which it is to be replied to, the question must not be called in the House.
Report to be considered.