Parlt recalled for budget session without Opposition MPs

PARLIAMENT was recalled yesterday for the 2021 budget session which started at 10.30am.
The 50 Government MPs led by Prime Minister James Marape walked into the chamber earlier than usual.
The number was well above the 37 required to have a quorum.
Section 113 of the Constitution states that “the quorum for a sitting of the Parliament is one-third of the number of seats in the Parliament at the time (111). The Standing Orders of the Parliament shall make provision for the action to be taken in the event of a lack of or loss of a quorum at any time.”
Clerk to Parliament Kala Aufa confirmed that 37 was the minimum required for Parliament to sit.
The 2021 budget was passed by voices.
There were no Opposition MPs.
The budget session did not have a lock-up session prior to the sitting for the media and stakeholders to discuss it before it was tabled.
Aufa said it was nothing new because Peter O’Neill’s government in 2015 passed the budget without a chance for debate by Opposition MPs. The Opposition at that time were only two – Belden Namah and Sam Basil.