General Debate

1. General Debate

General debate is the deliberation of certain matters regarding society or the functions of the state in the Plenary of the Assembly.

2. The Conditions for the Motion of General Debate

Launching a general debate in the Plenary may be demanded with a written motion proposed by the government, political party groups or at least 20 deputies.

·         The deputy’s name, surname, constituency and signature must be included in the motion, which is proposed by at least 20 deputies.

·         The group chairperson’s and/or the deputy chairperson’sname, surname, constituency and signature must be included in the motion that is proposed on behalf of the political party group.

·         The motions must not include rude and insulting words.

·         The matter of the motion may not be about using the judicial power of a lawsuit that is in process.

·         If the motion text has more than 500 words, a summary text with a maximum of 500 words must be annexed to the motion.  This summary must be taken into account when the motion is read during the Plenary debate.

·         The matter of the motion must not be vague, general, or opento interpretation.

·         The motion must be addressed to the Office of the Speaker.

3. The Stages of the Motion for General Debate

A motion of general debate that is registered in the General Documentation is referred to the Department of Laws and Resolutions. The motion, which is examined according to the provisions of the Rules of Procedure, is numbered as (8/…).The motion shall be included in the Order Paper with  information on its number of signatories, a summary which reflects the content, registration number, the date on which it was received by the Office of the Speaker, and the name, surname and constituency of the first signatory.

The motion is read out during the Plenary debates under the section of the agenda called “Presentation of the Office of the Speaker to the Assembly.” If the motion exceeds 500 words, its summary is read.  

The motion is placed under the section “General Debate and Preliminary Debates Concerning Parliamentary Inquiry” on the agenda according to the date on which it was received by the Office of the Speaker.

4. The Preliminary Debate of the Motion of General Debate

The purpose of the preliminary debate is to decide whether a general debate on a motion is to be held or not. The preliminary debate of a motion of general debate is conducted on a certain date specified by the Plenary upon the proposal of the Board of Spokespersons or a political party group. It is conducted according to the order of the business on the agenda.

During the preliminary debate, the government, political party groups, the deputy who has signed the motion first, or another signatory designated by him or her have the right to speak. During the preliminary debate, deputies may not speak in their personal capacities.

During the preliminary debate, the time given to government and political party groups to speak is 20 minutes; for the sponsor of the motion it is 10 minutes.  A decision to hold a general debate or not shall be made by voting at the end of the preliminary debate.

5. Launching a General Debate in the Plenary

If it is decided to hold a general debate during the preliminary debate in the Plenary, the Board of Spokespersons determines the day of the general debate as a special agenda. The general debate shall not be held before 48 hours and after 7 days following the decision of the Plenary.

During a general debate, the deputy who has signed the motion first or another signatory deputy designated by him or her has the right to speak first. In addition,  according to general provisions, the government, political party groups and two deputies in their personal capacities have the right to speak. During a general debate, speaking time is limited to 10 minutes for members, and 20 minutes each for the government and political party groups.

As it is not necessary to take a decision at the end of a general debate, there is no voting.

6. Withdrawal of the Motion of General Debate

The withdrawal of the motion of general debate by its sponsors is possible by a motion which is submitted to the Office of the Speaker.

The signatories on the motion of general debate may always withdraw their signatures. After withdrawal of the signatures, if the number of signatures is below 20, the Office of the Speaker may remove the motion out of process due to an inadequate number of signatures on the motion.