The Reminiscences of Zafrulla Khan — Page 234
218 REMINISCENCES OF SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA KHAN scarcely stopped its reverberations by the time the Speaker has called the House of Commons to order, and I intend to carry on in that way. " To my surprise that worked. I had some doubt whether the Assembly would wish to adopt that practice, and I had no means of enforcing it, but I suggested it and they went along with it, and we found that that was of great benefit. For one thing it saved time. During the three or four preceding sessions the waiting period, after the time fixed for the opening of the meetings, had extended to as much as 40 minutes, sometimes three-quarters of an hour, and that was a great waste of time each day, in the morning and in the afternoon, both in the plenary and in the committees. Before the opening of the meetings, the delegates arrived in fairly good time, but they would go into the Delegates' Lounge and cluster around the bar or sit in the Lounge smoking their cigars or cigarettes and discussing this and that. That kind of thing has its uses but there are times for it. My feeling was that we should begin the day with full attention to the work at hand and that the time for other things could be found later. That's what happened. The meetings started punctually at 10:30 in the morning; almost everybody came directly to the meeting, and came alert to the business, in the mood to take up the day's work and get along with it. So that, in the time that was available, by starting punctually, we did a great deal more than we used to do previously. Question : Had any governments tried to feel you out as to what course you might take as the President of the General assembly as part of the electoral manoeuvring which goes on to be President ? Zafrulla : There were, of course, when it became quite clear that I would be the choice of the Assembly, attempts to find out which way my mind was leaning or which view I was likely to take upon certain questions; but that I considered perfectly legitimate. I think that not only is there nothing wrong with it, but that it is quite right that delegations should try to find out. Even during the Assembly, I was occasionally asked, "Were you under pressure on this question," and I replied, "No, I was never under any pressure. " My colleagues some- times came and discussed these questions, having known that they were to be taken up in the Assembly, and they were perfectly right in doing so. It was a compliment to me also; they knew that whatever view I would take as President would be effective, and it was helpful to me to know the views that were held by different sections over certain