Deputy Speaker and hon members, for the past two years this Parliament has done very well in examining and challenging the work of government. It has not only focused on debating and passing important pieces of legislation, but also endeavoured to provide government with constructive feedback when carrying out its oversight role. Deputy Speaker, the work of Parliament is by nature very complex. Therefore, it follows that the complexity of the role of Parliament should be reflected in, firstly, the proportional formula that is applied to speaking times and, secondly, the resources that political parties need to be able to represent the views of their voters.
The current proportional speaking formula does not provide all the participants in our multiparty democracy with enough opportunity to add maximum value and influence discourse on a number of important national issues. There is a need to review the current time allocation which deprives the House of the opportunity to draw from multiple views and proposals in solving the challenges facing South Africa. This should form a critical performance assessment standard for what is the biggest debating House in the country.
Political party resource allocation should also be done in a manner that facilitates the constituency work of political parties represented in Parliament. While it would be dishonest to assert that no marginal gains have been made in these areas in the past, much more must still be done to ensure the effectiveness of this institution in these areas.
The UDM supports the Budget Vote. I thank you. [Applause.]