THE HAGUE, 27/02/03 - The Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) party yesterday presented 19 proposals which it says will make the Lower House function more effectively. The LPF believes an end could be made to interminable debates if MPs would practice self-discipline.

Parliamentarians should ask less written and verbal questions and only put forward achievable motions for discussion, according to the LPF. Speaker Frans Weisglas, receiving the already partly leaked proposals, said he would like to see the other parties as well contributing their views on the functioning of his House to the presidium, the Lower House management in which all parties are represented.

According to the LPF, too many MPs are only out to "score" in the press, and emergency debates are often only requested for these reasons. Questions are asked in parliament or unfeasible motions entered, making parliament a "Bureaucracy" in which citizens cannot find themselves. "Incident politics with a predictable outcome," according to MP Eerdmans.

The LPF only wants emergency debates to be allowed if three parties or 50 MPs ask for one. The same threshold should also apply for motions. Currently, a motion only needs the support of four MPs.