A female lawmaker surprised the Turkish Parliament on Wednesday by entering the House in trousers thereby breaking its existing dress code.

Independent Leyla Zana representing the south-eastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir attended the session in trousers while the House debated change in Parliament bylaws to allow female lawmakers to wear trousers. Turkish media carried a photograph of Zana entering the House in trousers.

The proposal, moved by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was accepted by all parties in Parliament later, the daily Today's Zaman reported.

Lifting of the ban comes after Parliament witnessed breaking of a long-standing taboo on headscarves in the legislature when four female AK Party lawmakers entered the General Assembly with their headscarves on October 31.

The dress code specified in parliamentary bylaws had come to the public's attention when Republican People's Party (CHP) lawmaker Safak Pavey, who wears a prosthetic leg, found herself in a difficult situation due to the ban on female parliamentarians wearing trousers.

Two AK Party lawmakers submitted a proposal two years ago seeking amendments to the bylaws, but it was withdrawn after another bill was proposed by a member permitting women to wear headscarves and slacks, and to do away with the requirement of a tie for male parliamentarians. The bill was later rejected.

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