Law enforcement officials said today that a governing party legislator ordered the killing of a powerful Government official last week to prevent him from pushing forward sweeping political reforms.

Teodato Hunguana, a governing party legislator in Parliament, said recently that the revelations "clearly show the state has been highly infiltrated by organized crime."

As ruling party legislators yawned, jeered and chuckled, the opposition legislators outdid each other in a competition to see who could walk the slowest.

Opposition legislators openly criticize the defense budget as too large, and drive their point home by grabbing microphones from elderly ruling party legislators as they try to speak.

Among the new opposition party legislators is Shih Ming-teh, a 51-year-old dissident who spent 25 years in prison for his peaceful opposition to the Government.

Congress and regional party legislators stormed out of the upper house of Parliament demanding the central Government's immediate intervention.

But Choi Chang Yoon, a senior ruling party legislator, said the South would have to study the apparent shift in the North's position on parliamentary talks.

Senior ruling party legislators such as Choi Chang Yoon say such questioning or restraints would insult the office of President.

"The prime minister was very closed last week, but was more open to the idea of amending the law today," said Éric Woerth, a party legislator who attended the meeting.

Mr. Botha said he understood the disappointment of party legislators about his decision to separate the two posts and regretted that he could not attend the meeting at which it was announced.