The first day of the Assembly voting procedures review has been overshadowed by a row between the pro-Belfast Agreement parties and the DUP after a DUP note-taker was ejected from the meeting.
The review was called on the behest of the non-aligned Alliance Party, which temporarily redesignated three of its MLAs as unionists to secure the re-election of Mr David Trimble as First Minister two weeks ago.
The party argues that a new voting system needs to be devised to give non-unionist and non-nationalist votes equal weight.
The DUP deputy leader, Mr Peter Robinson, accused Mr Trimble of being responsible for the note-takers' expulsion.
"Mr Trimble, while he is happy to have the company of Sinn FΘin/IRA, wants unionists thrown out. That's the present disposition of the UUP and its leader and I think it's a very sad reflection of the depths to which he has plunged," he added.
An SDLP MLA, Mr Alban Maginness, accused the DUP of engaging in "Rag Day politics", saying the party's attitude to the review was "all stunt and no substance".
The Alliance Party leader, Mr David Ford, insisted that most political parties accepted the necessity of a reform of the voting system.
"We are proposing instead a system of weighted majority where in some cases 60 per cent of the MLAs support would be required on certain decisions and in others 70 per cent would be required," he said.