RECORDS of parliamentary proceedings will now be available on audio following the completion of the first phase a US$500,000 digitalisation programme.
MPs and Senators will also be supplied with smart cards for voting, with results instantly displayed on a giant flat-screen put up in the Chamber, the Speaker of the House of Assembly Lovemore Moyo said.
The second phase will see the installation of permanent TV cameras, with video recordings of parliamentary debates and portfolio committee meetings stored on DVD. The third and final phase will be the broadcasting of parliamentary debates on national TV and to have parliament sit in the provinces.
The programme is funded by the United States Agency for International Development.
Moyo said: “We have taken the first important steps to the modernisation of our parliament. Since 1996, we have been on this path of reforming parliament to make it accessible to the people.”
Moyo said as part of the changes, MPs would no longer be required to move from their seats to a central podium to speak during debates following the installation of microphones on the benches.
He added: "On top of the Hansard, members of the public can now access audio recordings of specific parliamentary sittings thanks to this digitalisation programme.
“We want to improve our accessibility to the people and when we complete the third phase of this programme, we must have a truly modern parliament.”