A Parliament is nothing less than a big meeting of more or less idle people.

Walter Bagehot

It wasn't long before people discovered the final horrors of letting an urchin into Parliament.

Bernadette Devlin

To date, Kenya lacks an effective livestock marketing policy and it is prudent for the Government to move fast and implement a Livestock Marketing Authority, which was passed in Parliament.

Adan Dualle

We would want it to come through the parliament.

Nicholas Haysom

Once again he is shunning parliament and is failing to report to the public and publicly elected officials.

Chaim Ramon

We have a week more to choose the speaker of the parliament and his two deputies and also to discuss who is going to be the president.

Jawad Al maliki

We have received additional guarantees. I feel quite at ease with defending this in the Dutch Parliament.

Ben Bot

No parliamentarian could tell his electors that he was too ill to be the leader of the party but was well enough to look after their interests in the parliament.

Gough Whitlam

Parliament would be doing a Pontius Pilate to wash their hands of the issue this week.

Alan Baker

There are attempts to convince the (Shiite) alliance to leave the issue of federalism in other parts of Iraq (apart from the Kurdish north) for the next parliament to deal with, and also to implement it gradually over two or three years, not now.

Mahmud Othman

Israel is the only country in the Middle East where Arabs can be elected to the parliament in a democratic election.

Adam Michnik

The government should hold a meeting of all parties immediately before the Parliament session, to explain the background of India's vote at the IAEA meeting on Saturday.

Prakash Javadekar

We firmly believe that dialogue about diversity, about representation, about accountability and about checks and balances needs further airing in this parliament.

Pita Sharples

I don't think that parliament will find the strength to annul its decision.

Volodymyr Lytvyn

I'm going to sit in the last row in parliament, think about things and stay silent, ... I don't have anything -- except for a good mood.

Joschka Fischer

I wouldn't make him a toilet cleaner in Parliament House, let alone Leader of the Opposition.

Mark Latham

Wherever there is a parliament, there must of necessity be an opposition.

John Wagstaff

Our first democratic Parliament in history - we are going to take that opportunity to move Scotland forward.

Alex Salmond

The best we can ever hope for is to win enough votes in the Palestinian parliament, allowing us to have a minister or two in the government so that we can have our say in the way things are run, particularly in matters of importance to us. In short, we want to become in the Palestinian government what the Orthodox Jews are in the Israeli government.

Osama Hamdan

Thus, there is a high probability that the new parliament, rather than being a venue for discussing development goals, will be an overheated venue for anti-Karzai criticism.

Ahmed Rashid

Making reforms is easy on the pages of a newspaper, but it is not so easy to do in the parliament.

Franco Bruni

Social attitudes have changed. This would have been inconceivable a decade ago. Now there are more women in Parliament and opposition to smoking goes across the range of age and class.

John Grogan

They had first told us to join parliament to discuss the reform proposals and now they want us to come up with a bill in parliament. The onus lies with the government to place the bill in the House.

Sheikh Hasina

Parliament will reconvene either on Wednesday or Thursday when possibly a new government will be formed.

Sanjaasuren Oyun

We don't want anything special; the only thing we want is the atmosphere and facilities to be educated, We do hope that finally we will have a capable Parliament and they can make facilities for studying.

Abdul Rahim

Do they even have anyone who knows how to draft a bill in parliament?

Adrien Wing

It's clear at this point ... that parliament doesn't want to change the law.

Mario Pescante

This a momentous day; I am excited because this is the first parliament we have had after so many decades.

Shukria Barakzai

People must not do things for fun. We are not here for fun. There is no reference to fun in any act of Parliament.

A. P. Herbert

If national members of parliament are to hold ministers to account they need to know what those ministers decide in Brussels in the name of their country.

Chris Davies

We have decided to call for a debate in Parliament.

Prakash Karat

The matter will be taken to the consumer affairs ministry and the parliament so that it is made into a law with enough teeth to enable them to fight for their rights.

Sudhakara Reddy

[But the Liberals are sticking to their guns.] We're here to make this Parliament work for Canadians, ... and keep the prime minister's commitment to Canadians.

Tony Valeri

Anything he does in parliament will depend on getting support on the left. It is going to be dangerous for him to push anything too radical.

Stephen Clarkson

The Government may have won in court, but the questions in Parliament are only just beginning. Having escaped the judgement today, Parliament will now have the opportunity to judge them.

Alan Duncan

Parliament must reassemble. It is the only body with a mandate for negotiations.

Ranil Wickremesinghe

All I can say is that our objective going in is to make Parliament work. That is our one and only objective. That's why we were elected--to govern--and we will be approaching this legislative session, just like we did the one before, trying to make Parliament work.

Marc Roy

A split parliament would be the worst-case scenario.

Dario Perkins

Either we emerge with a strong parliament and government or we have the collapse of the Palestinian Authority.

Salah Abdel Shafi

The government may have won in court, but the questions in Parliament are only just beginning. The proceedings in court have flushed out a catalogue of contemptible conduct which displays corruption and deceit at the heart of this government.

Alan Duncan

The government did not react responsibly. They should have informed Parliament and the country's political parties...but instead kept them in the dark.

Nikos Athanassakis

Winning co-decision for Parliament on this important area is a success for Parliament's prerogative.

Alexander Alvaro

Montenegro's parliament (on Friday) will declare a moratorium on today's decisions, which will not be valid in Montenegro.

Miodrag Vukovic

The date for the elections will be December 27. Parliament is dissolved with immediate effect.

Frederick Chiluba

Parliament must act swiftly against all those Members of Parliament found to be in breach of the Parliamentary Code of Conduct.

Douglas Gibson

I call on all the parties in parliament and outside to reconcile and take the country out of the crisis.

Vladimir Voronin

These elections are very important because until now it's been a presidential regime. Karzai has been elected, but it's a one-man regime. To have a Parliament is very important to give a democratic dimension to the regime.

Olivier Roy

We will raise the issue in Parliament. We will take the issue to Parliament and also take to the streets.

Rajnath Singh

Every government is a parliament of whores. The trouble is, in a democracy, the whores are us.

P. J. O'Rourke

This particular gathering of justice ministers does provide a historic opportunity for the justice system to send a message to Parliament.

Michael Bryant

There is a majority of member states who don't want it as they really didn't ask for it. The majority of the European Parliament also has problems with it so it's an open issue.

Ruth Hieronymi

The people who will decide the next parliament will be the four who hold the Maori Party seats.

Derek Fox

Now we have a voice in Italy's parliament.

Gino Bucchino

I personally think that we should lower the flags on the provincial legislatures and Parliament.

Aaron Russell

Lots of Afghans are disappointed and cynical because they feel like people who perpetrated serious human rights abuses have been allowed back in the parliament.

Sam Zarifi

I understand that as the first transsexual MP (Member of Parliament) there be will a lot of media interest and I am happy to talk about my journey, but I felt belittled.

Georgina Beyer

We will continue to protest until all American troops are not sent back from Pakistan, until parliament is made sovereign and until an independent election commission is constituted.

Shahid Shamsi

If you look at what the French parliament is doing, they recognize that you can't do anything to stop people from making illegal copies. What the parliament has said is that instead of no one getting anything [from these copies], we'll charge them $8.50.

Mukul Krishna

This is a great undertaking. This is one of the projects which only the grand coalition has made possible in this parliament.

Norbert Roettgen

We will now seek to build a ruling majority with the parties in this parliament.

Przemyslaw Gosiewski

At Cabinet meetings in a U.S. Parliament, the FBI chief and CIA chief both elected and facing new elections would have to keep other Cabinet members informed about security. No secrets.

Bob Kelleher

I believe that there will be a very substantial, perhaps even a two-thirds majority, for constitutional change and the modernization of our system of government in the next Parliament.

Paddy Ashdown

The Government has no intention of interfering with Parliament.

John Michuki

It happens to the best of us. When I am in the Scottish Parliament chamber, I often feel the need to sit for the entire debate. It's only courteous to listen to what everyone has to say, although I often find myself desperate to say something but too scared to stand up in case I regret it.

Margo Macdonald

To continue declaring or insinuating that the new parliament is not legitimate would be a very serious step, such as to create instability and permanent disorder.

Stefano Folli

These decisions of the European parliament make things more difficult for Turkey.

Yasar Yakis

The European Parliament is making laughable calls on deeming the elections illegitimate.

Andrei Popov

When he comes back, we will appraise the house (of parliament) of the situation.

Pramod Mahajan

I think we should dissolve parliament ... and see what the citizens of Serbia think about all of this.

Tomislav Nikolic

Parliament doesn't intend making changes to the law.

Mario Pescante

The majority of the Cabinet members will be from outside parliament, and some independents and technocrats.

Salah Bardawil

The king can then employ some legal ploy to dismiss parliament and the new prime minister.

Baburam Bhattarai

We want to put pressure on government in parliament and in the street.

Abdul Hamid

If Parliament votes the cuts, it will be a message that they think La Scala isn't important, that film isn't important.

Gaetano Blandini

Do you remember shouting at me in the Commons in the 1970s that you weren't having the likes of me breaking up Britain and destroying the working class through a Scots parliament. You are in a Scots parliament. What happened?

George Reid

Pakistan has not recognized Israel, ... any such decision would be taken in supreme national interests after due consultation of the parliament.

Shaukat Aziz

Scandals aren't over. Something shows up in March, around the 12th or the 18th. I see a man in Parliament with his head hung low, apologizing for something.

Connie Adams

We will move a privilege motion against the minister who has misled Parliament in reply to a question in this regard.

Gurudas Dasgupta

It's good news, even though the verdict has long been priced into market expectations. The prospect of a CDU-led majority in both chambers of parliament will greatly improve the outlook for further structural changes.

Bernd Karstedt

I would walk from here to Drogheda and back to see the man who is blockhead enough to expect anything except injustice from an English Parliament.

Daniel O'connell

The US embassy ridiculed us, they ridiculed Bulgarian members of parliament.

Volen Siderov

We will be bringing the Wildlife Protection Amendment Bill in this session of Parliament.

Priyaranjan Dasmunshi

If you want a progressive (member of Parliament), a New Democrat, one who will fight for change, then you have to vote New Democrat. It's that simple. In order to have the Canada you want, you have to vote for the Canada you want.

Jack Layton

I don't believe the meeting should be postponed, even if the EU does not put forward a better proposal, ... I believe that the EU and France would need to account for their actions before the parliament of world opinion.

Mark Vaile

The reason behind the increase in protests during the parliament session is people try to get maximum mileage during these months and try to get heard.

Rajiv Ranjan

I don't see him resigning unless something bad comes out of the investigation. I do see him dissolving parliament. He might need to do something like that. If I were him, I would do it.

Korn Chatikavanij

Now we have decided to go back (to parliament) for presenting people's demands as we don't want to give the government and ruling BNP a chance to ignore them any more.

Sheikh Hasina

If the honorable parliament does not approve, we will be forced to call the electoral bodies a month before May 29, that is April 29, in order to conduct elections on May 29.

Najib Mikati

I often see him walking near Parliament House and the Lodge, so it was fantastic to see him out here.

Nathan Deakes

A government that does not have a majority in parliament does not really hold power and that should be changed.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski

Now their freedom has been secured, informing parliament about all the conditions of how the discussions have unfolded since August is the least thing that can be done.

Francois Hollande

The fuss you hear is not from GAM, but from the TNI (Indonesian Armed Forces) and parliament.

Irwandi Yusuf

I think the most likely scenario is that parliament will continue to consider the government fired and acting in a caretaking capacity and the government will consider itself not fired and acting in its regular capacity.

Mikhail Pogrebinsky

The parliament has the potential of getting seriously bogged down in a number of issues. It could even be crippled -- everything depends on the responsibility of the parties and their ability to move beyond contentious issues.

Magnus Ranstorp

This election is special because for the first time in years I can say we have had no opposition in the German parliament.

Oskar Lafontaine

The government has a problem it cannot ignore -- a single-colored parliament elected amid a gigantic abstention.

Teodoro Petkoff

It is the job of every institution and especially of Parliament to observe the law.

Alfred Moisiu

We are profoundly disappointed that Zimbabwe's parliament has passed this law, which represents a fundamental attack on media freedom.

Chris Patten

The majority of the members of the Irish parliament are professional politicians, in the sense that otherwise they would not be given jobs minding mice at crossroads.

Flann O'brien

We are prepared to do something dramatic again. Don't forget, we took over parliament and held hostages for what we believed in.

Jo Nata

I feel satisfied, it has been a long haul. I have been in Parliament since 1989.

Derrick Kellier

If you read the constitution, it does not say 'after obtaining the approval' of the parliament but 'after listening to the considerations'.

Hamid Awaluddin

If the parliament is sitting it has to undertake business, that's not a question of picking and choosing.

Philip Ruddock

The government has already marginalized political parties, created a waxwork of parliament and is finishing a waxwork of independent media. The only thing left is the NGO community.

Alexander Petrov

Today, there are a lot of opposition members of parliament who are not only ready for elections, they're pushing for them.

Vladimir Ryzhkov

This cabinet is about the next election as much as it's about the current minority Parliament.

Faron Ellis

A lot depends on United Russia's support. They are the controlling party in the parliament, and they are instrumental in allocating budget funds.

Sergei Novikov

I don't mind being a symbol but I don't want to become a monument. There are monuments all over the Parliament Buildings and I've seen what the pigeons do to them.

Tommy Douglas

We are demonstrating for services for all the people and not just services for money. It's very important that this message goes to the European Parliament today.

John Monks

England can never be ruined except by a Parliament.

Lord Burleigh

From now on we will have two authorities and most likely this will lead to a clash. The struggle will be between the president's office on the one hand and the parliament and cabinet on the other.

Nabil Amr

None of this was ever put before parliament or the British people in March 2003 when military action commenced.

Sir Menzies Campbell

If we will not be able to reach agreements in the end, this constitution is going to be presented to the Iraqis in an Oct. 15 referendum. Legally we do not need the parliament to vote on the draft, but we need only a consensus so that all the Iraqis will say yes to the constitution.

Hajim Al hassani

I have asked the leaders to settle the issues fast and reach a compromise as it will permit the Iraqi parliament to complete the draft constitution in time.

Hajim Al hasani

This is not a proposal but an ultimatum that smacks of arrogance of the minority in parliament.

Morshed Khan

Grave matters need to be dealt with the seriousness they deserve and that is why we want parliament to be re-convened without further delay.

Raila Odinga

I'm absolutely astonished at the 'no wrongdoing' judgment. This was an essentially deceitful plan. [The decision] was kept away from parliament. This is no way to conduct the government of this country.

Alan Duncan

To make people sit up and listen, they will have to do more than hold up people in parliament.

Sitiveni Rabuka

The European Parliament has sold itself cheaply...What we now have is that we have given the tools to government prosecutors to do what they want.

Alexander Alvaro

Nobody has the right to call for the resignation of a minister. Only the parliament has this right.

Baqir Jabbur

He's trying to dictate the terms of his departure. He's trying to get around the election law by forcing parliament to open.

Korn Chatikavanij

There are many controversial pending Bills in Parliament, including the Sexual Offences Bill, which we would soon speak out on.

Tom Ojienda

It is not necessarily true that the ethnic Albania n majority will misuse the participation of Serbs in the work of parliament.

Kai Eide

If the Council wins on data retention and the Parliament wins by allowing spam, then the only loser will be the customer -- twice over.

Joe Mcnamee

I accept it democratically and will act accordingly, ... I will persist in my career as a politician but from outside parliament, of course.

Emile Lahoud

It is wholly unhealthy for us as a Parliament to give this government unseen powers over the citizen and over the way in which he conducts his or her life.

Edward Garnier