Question Time
From Free net encyclopedia
- Question Time is also the name of a British television programme. For this entry, see Question Time (television).
Question Time is a section of proceedings in the Parliaments of the United Kingdom and several other countries which use the Westminster system, including Australia and New Zealand, and in Canada, where it is called Question Period. During Question Time, backbenchers (members of Parliament who are not Ministers), including members of the minority parties, ask questions of the government's Ministers, which they are obliged to answer. It usually occurs daily while parliament is sitting, though it can be cancelled in exceptional circumstances.
In practice, the questions asked in Question Time are usually pre-arranged by the organisers of each party, although the questions are without notice. Questions asked by members of the opposition parties are usually intended to force the government to admit failures or to otherwise criticise it, whilst questions from government backbenchers (termed "patsies" in the United Kingdom and "Dorothy Dixers" in Australia) are either intended to allow the Minster to discuss the virtues of government policy, or to attack the opposition. A typical format of such a government backbencher's question might be "Could the Minister discuss the benefits of the government's initiative on <issue>, and is the Minister aware of any alternative policies in this area?"
Whilst Ministers often try to avoid opposition questions, lying or providing misleading answers to Parliament is not permitted by the standing orders, and the resulting political outcry often results in that Minister being relieved of his position, and possibly suspended from the House. Skilled Ministers will often attempt to turn around the opposition's questions, rather than answering the question asked using them to further attack the opposition. However the oration must be rather precise, as the opposition member can raise the issue to the Speaker as to the wavering relevance of the response.
The Australian standing orders and practice allow the Prime Minister to terminate Question Time by noting to the Speaker that "further questions be placed on the Notice Paper". It is possible for the Prime Minister to prematurely terminate or terminate Question Time altogether, although this is never done due to the implications it would have (and bad publicity it would create).
In the United Kingdom, the analogous parliamentary period would be Prime Minister's Questions; however, the questions are directed only to the Prime Minster.
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Question time in the New Zealand House of Representatives
Oral Questions
Questions asked to Ministers must be concise and related to the area of the Ministers responsibility. Questions require that all facts be authenticated. Before a question is asked it is checked that it meets the requirements of the House's Standing orders, before being transmitted to the relevant ministers.
In New Zealand oral Questions are asked at the beginning at the start of each sitting day. Twelve oral questions are asked. The opportunity to ask questions is equally shared amongst the members of the house, excluding ministers. Urgent Questions while possible are uncommon.
The Question is addressed to the portfolio of the Minister receiving the question, and the questioner must ask the question as written. Once a question is asked, supplementary questions can be asked.
Written Questions
There is no limit to the written questions that any MP can ask and can be submitted each working day before 10.30am. Submission and publication of the question is an electronic process with no hard copy record.
Questions in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong
The questions in the Legislative Council are aimed at seeking information on government actions on specific problems or incidents and on government policies, for the purpose of monitoring the effectiveness of the government.
Questions may be asked at any council meeting except the first meeting of a session, a meeting at which the President (the speaker) of the council is elected, or the Chief Executive delivers the annual policy address to the Council.
No more than 20 questions, excluding urgent questions that may be permitted by the President, may be asked at any one meeting. Replies to questions may be given by designated public officers, usually secretaries, orally or in written form. For questions seeking oral replies, supplementary questions may be put by any member when called upon by the president of the council for the purpose of elucidating that answer. Where there is no debate on a motion with no legislative effect at a meeting, no more than ten questions requiring oral replies may be asked; otherwise, no more than six questions may require an oral reply.
The Chief Executive, who is the head of the region and head of government, attends Question and Answer Session of the council which are held several times in a legislative year.