The DA is to propose to the national assembly rules committee that MPs be allowed to pose parliamentary questions to the speaker.

The DA is to propose to the national assembly rules committee that MPs be allowed to pose parliamentary questions to the speaker.

"We believe Parliament should be accountable to the legislature for its administration, policy and practice in the same way the rest of the executive is," DA chief whip Ian Davison said yesterday.

"It must be in line with the constitutional principles that define the relationship between the legislature and the executive."

At present MPs are only allowed to pose questions to members of the cabinet.

"But the DA believes that the speaker is the executive authority of Parliament, an institution constitutionally obligated to represent all South Africans and the very epicentre of democratic practice in South Africa," Davison said.

"So the speaker should also be held accountable for the decisions he or she has made and the actions he or she has taken." - Sapa