LENGTH OF PARLIAMENT
Present Term Criticised
The Constitutional Society has asked the Government to make provision at the General Election later this year for a referendum on the question of the length of the term of Parliament, giving a choice of three, four or five years. “It has been represented to the society that a term of three years is too short and that it should be extended to four or even five years,” said the president of the society, Sir Matthew Oram, yesterday.
“It is argued that in a three-year term the Ministers of a new Government are preoccupied with becoming acquainted with the workings of their department and are not in a good position to promote legislation,” Sir Matthew Oram said.
“The middle year is, therefore, the only “working’ session because in the third year the parties are concentrating on an approaching election, and that inevitably affects the legislative programme. “Furthermore, the time is too short for the electors to judge the effectiveness of the measures implementing a programme presented to them at the previous election and the parties tend to concentrate on schemes which are likely to be popular rather than on plans for the general good of the country. Practical examples of this have been the ‘stop-and-go economic measures which have caused recurrent crises in i ecent post-election years. "For these reasons, the society supports a longer term of Parliament, which is one of several reforms it considers desirable for the welfare of the country,” Sir Matthew Oram said.
“It is strongly of the opinion, however, that this is an issue on which the electors should be given an opportunity of expressing their views before any action is taken.”
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Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31082, 10 June 1966, Page 16
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283LENGTH OF PARLIAMENT Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31082, 10 June 1966, Page 16
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