The report shows the relatively low level of debate quality in the Parliament in this mandate and confirms the conclusion that there is room for significant improvement. On a scale from 1 – the lowest to 10 – the highest, the average rating of the debate quality in the Parliament in the second half of 2023 is 5.6.
In 40% of all analyzed discussions, the participants made no arguments, while in 49% of the analyzed discussions they had poor arguments, that is, the speakers offered an explanation of their positions that is not sufficient to be considered a full argument. The level of argumentation has slightly improved compared to the previous monitoring period of January – June 2023.
In terms of how MPs respond to arguments presented by other MPs, the monitoring notes that in 11% of their speeches, the MPs addressed the arguments appropriately, that is, the MP directly responded to arguments that were previously addressed to him/ her by another participant in the discussion. Compared to the previous monitoring period (January – June 2023), when in only 5% of the discussions an adequate addressing of the arguments was observed, now there is a certain increase.
From July to December 2023, the review of 10 reports submitted to the Parliament by independent and regulatory bodies was monitored. Six reports were not discussed in the plenary and committee sessions during this reporting period. For one report, the discussion was considerably short, and was reduced to three discussion participants. For the remaining three reports submitted by independent and regulatory bodies, the MPs developed a discussion in the committee and plenary sessions and they underwent a certain level of control.
The report also confirms the consistently low regard of the MPs towards the rights of marginalized groups, consistent in all periods of monitoring. It has been observed that in 80% of their discussion, the MPs do not refer to the rights of marginalized groups, unless a specific law or agenda topic related to their rights is discussed. Although the MPs generally rarely refer to the rights of marginalized groups and communities, female MPs refer to these communities to a greater extent than their fellow male MPs.
Read the publication here:
PARLIAMENT WATCH: MONITORING REPORT ON THE DEBATE QUALITY IN THE PARLIAMENT (JULY – DECEMBER 2023)