Tenth Parliament has underperformed – Speaker

Sep 01, 2014 News

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– “Fighting by MPs at national level is a frightening prospect”

By: Kiana Wilburg

Taking the entire proceedings of the Tenth Parliament thus far into consideration, would it be fair to conclude that it was effective? More significantly, are politicians on either side of the House prepared to do what is necessary to repair the image of the Parliament which is perceived to be a mere rubber stamp?

Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman attempted to answer these questions in an interview with this publication recently.
Trotman explained that the Parliament has three primary functions; to make laws, provide oversight over government and to approve government spending. There is a fourth function, he added, but it not so well known and that it is, it is supposed to be a place of representation so that debates and discussions can take place on behalf of the people.
In that regard, the House Speaker said, “we have had many debates, so it is meeting that function.”
In terms of legislations, Trotman said that the House is passing laws but he doesn’t believe that as a collective, they are passing as many laws as they should. “So I would say it is meeting the minimum standard of being a legislative chamber.”
When it comes to providing oversight over government, the Speaker said, “I don’t think that we have done as good a job as we should have. The committee system is in place but we have a difficulty where our Members of Parliament (MP) for the most part are part time ones and they are expected to perform full time functions. That poses a great problem sometimes; for some MPs would come to meetings and only some are well prepared. I would single out Carl Greenidge, who is the head of the Public Accounts Committee because I think that when he is holding meetings, he takes that job seriously and does an excellent job. However, in terms of general oversight, I don’t think we have gotten into that, and other committees have not.”
Trotman then highlighted budget approval. He said that the National Assembly has been trimming and amending the budget and that has not been “respected” by government.
“I would say we are not faring well at that level either,” the House Speaker said.
Turning his attention to repairing the image of the Parliament, Trotman does not agree that it a mere rubber stamp.
“In spite of what some critics have been saying, I don’t think in the tenth parliament that we have become a rubber stamp. Government complains of not getting its way now. In the past, they would bring anything and it would be passed. However, this is not a matter that is unique in Guyana and it does exist in other countries and even in the Caribbean where the trust level in parliament is at 32 percent. So our situation is not unique,” Trotman expressed.
Challenged to say what mechanisms he will try to put in place to improve the perception of the Parliament, Trotman said that he will be opening forums and trying to engage politicians in meetings with the citizens. “But at the end of the day, the image the citizens get is one of disagreement, discord and fighting, and as House Speaker there isn’t much I can do. I try to maintain order and remind our MPs that we have people watching on but if people want to go at each other in personal ways in the Assembly, there is very little that I can do. What I am trying to say in essence is that repairing the image requires a collective effort by both government and opposition. Citizens need to see their leaders in discussion and working out their disagreements, and it doesn’t appear that we are capable of solving our problems. The ability to solve our problems is essentially what sets us apart from being ordinary.”
Trotman said that the current manner in which MPs “go at each other in the Assembly really captures the level of disrespect and disdain that members and their parties have for each other at a national level and it is a frightening prospect because no nation so divided can be successful.”
Assuming that the government changes tomorrow and the opposition becomes the government, with that level of anger and disdain, The House Speaker said that the same level of fighting can be expected. “It is for this reason that I have said that Guyana really needs a father or mother figure when it comes to the Presidency and so I come back to the central theme and that is, the     President and the Leader of Opposition need to speak more and the people need to see that kind of discussion. No one expects them to sell out their position but to simply compromise,” Trotman insisted.
The House Speaker then highlighted how the works of the various Sectoral Committees are being affected by the “fighting between MPs” at the national level. He asserted that the Parliament currently has five Sectoral Committees. These are; the Economic, Natural, Foreign Relations, Social and Security Services Committees. Noting that the Security Services Committee is non functional, he expressed concern over the Natural Resources Committee. Considering the recent outrage over the apparent abuse of Guyana’s resources, particularly in the Forestry Sector, Trotman said that this should have been brought to the media’s attention by the Natural Resources Committee and not the other way around.
“These are things that a vibrant committee should have been questioning and I know there have been efforts but we need some more full time, committed parliamentarians to be there to take time to check on these things. But because of the fighting and disagreements, we have not been able to examine what’s been happening or what’s going on in the various sectors,” The House Speaker concluded.

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