Parliament decision has not violated the Constitution

Speaker D.Demberel has ordered to establish a working group to change two provisions of law on Parliament procedures. The Chief of the Standing Committee on State Structure, J.Sukhbaatar, answers our journalist’s question relating to yesterday’s meeting of the working group.

Could you give information about resolution of the working group meeting?

Working group has not concluded ultimate conclusion yet. Group will submit the conclusion to Speaker D.Demberel and after that we could give information.

What issue was in debate?

Working group has not had controversial opinion because working group members do not view that Parliament has decided to violate laws. We exchanged our opinions how to regulate the issue in further.

Parliamentary journalists want to open the Standing Committees’ meetings. How about your position?

There is raising issue that information is closed or not that journalists could write data that did not watch and did not personally attend the meeting. How do you understand media freedom?

The Standing Committees’ meetings protocols have not been limited and publicly open. Besides, planned work is to record meeting process by one camera and to publicly broadcast like the USA Congress. In other words, the Standing Committees’ meetings could be broadcasted but not through journalists. There is not the Constitution violation.

The Standing Committees’ meetings reporting procedures are regulated as we have amended the law.

Moreover, officials attend closed meetings and protocols are written in secret list. The rights are limited to get closed meeting data. But the provision is limited journalists personally attending and record camera entering.

But journalists would write by Chief of the Standing Committee like the group meeting?

Countries where media freedom is limited broadcast such procedure but press freedom is highly estimated in parliament democracy.