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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
Prime Minister and Minister of Finance the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie addresses the Opening Ceremony of the 41st Regional Conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association at Atlantis, Paradise Island, July 25, 2016. (BIS Photo/Raymond A. Bethel, Sr.)
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NASSAU, The Bahamas -- Prime Minister and Minister of Finance the Rt. Hon. Perry Christie said the business process and machinery of Bahamian parliament must be improved upon and give an insight on what he would like to see happen.
"Firstly, I think the time has come for a further review of the parliamentary Rules and Standing Orders in line with the changing nature of our society and how it is being impacted and shaped by social media, mass communications and technology," Prime Minister Christie said during the Opening Ceremony of the 41st Regional Conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), The Caribbean, Americas and Atlantic Region, held at the Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island, July 25, 2016.
Secondly, he said, more emphasis needs to be placed on our system of Select Committees.
"I would like us to consider more closely whether the time has come for permanent Select Committees covering areas such as Foreign Affairs and Trade, Law and Justice; Business and Commerce, Education and Science, the Environment and Government Administration, to name some of the more important subject areas which should be subject to greater and more systematic parliamentary oversight," Prime Minister Christie stated.
In some instances, he added, those permanent committees might even be joint House and Senate Committees, as is the practice in some jurisdictions. This would affirm, Prime Minister Christie noted, the vital role that the Senate can and should play in the parliamentary affairs of our nations.
"These committees could provide meaningful work for members while at the same time involving the public more in the evolution of public policy through the organs of Parliament," he said.
Thirdly, Prime Minister Christie said, frequent exchanges and visitations with fellow parliamentarians around the world is something that needs to be encouraged.
There is a lot going on in terms of evolving parliamentary practices and standards," he pointed out. "There needs to be an enhanced cross-fertilization of ideas throughout the Commonwealth in this regard and this can be greatly facilitated by exchange programmes."
The CPA, Prime Minister Christie stated, has been a leader in this type of learning experience and he would, therefore, encourage the Secretary General to make that a subject of renewed and expanded focus during his term in office. It is something, Prime Minister Christie said, from which all stand to benefit.
"Fourthly, in this age of openness and transparency, we need to make the inner workings of our parliamentary systems more accessible to the ordinary citizen," Prime Minister said.
"We are already broadcasting live proceedings but I can also envision an interactive website where legislation, committee reports and other business of parliament can be more readily accessed," he added. "Through such a website one would also be able to contact one’s Member of Parliament, make a submission to any of the proposed Standing Committees, as well as establishing other forms of contact with one’s elected representatives."
Prime Minister Christie suggested that in the region, Parliaments really do need to “up our game”, as they say, in the way that political business is transacted in the various assemblies.
"Our presiding officers do an excellent job in endeavouring to maintain decorum and civility in our legislative assemblies; but they can only do so much," Prime Minister Christie said. "Our assemblies, after all, are not nurseries for toddlers, nor are they barrooms for brawlers.
"Instead they are supposed to be shining examples of civilized discourse in which the virtues of basic decency and respect for the dignity of the person are observed, even while we espouse our causes and ventilate our arguments with all the intensity and passion that we can muster."
Prime Minister Christie said that he has been in parliament now for more than 40 years and it saddens him to see how little The Bahamas has advanced over the years in the way they speak about each other and about others, especially those who are not even members and cannot defend themselves from the attacks of members.
"I hasten to say that this is not a case of self-righteous finger-pointing on my part," he pointed out. "Rather, I issue my admonition as much to myself as I do to others. At one time or another we have all fallen afoul of the high standards that are expected of us as servants of the people in the legislature. So, it is good that we not only remind others about the need for temperance and moderation in our parliamentary speech-making; but that we remind ourselves about the need for personal adherence to this admonition as well.
Prime Minister Christie said that when they deviate from the high standards expected of them in that regard, they set a poor example, especially at a time when the inability to resolve conflicts peacefully in the broader society has become a problem of the first magnitude.
"We really do need to examine this, to discuss this, and we need to be able to determine how we change," Prime Minister Christie said. We really do need to set the bar of personal decorum in Parliament much higher. We really do need to strive more conscientiously and consistently to set an example in the way we transact parliamentary business across the partisan divide and in the way we may be encouraging others, however unwittingly, to emulate us as well."
Prime Minister noted that recent "tragic events" both in the United Kingdom and elsewhere remind all of just how vulnerable members of parliament and political figures generally are nowadays.
"While we, who are frontline combatants across the political divide, can well absorb the slings and arrows of harsh and over-the-top rhetoric, we have to be aware that there are many out there in our respective national communities who may simply lack the mental equilibrium and self-control to take these rhetorical excesses in stride."
He added that words are powerful weapons and mind-shapers that can sometimes move individuals of unsound or unbalanced mind to take matters a step further, to inflict carnage in a way too horrible to contemplate.
He encouraged parliamentarians to commit to exercising special care both in the way they speak in and outside Parliament and in the way that they communicate with each other over social media.
Prime Minister Christie closed by wishing the 41st Regional Conference every success in its deliberations.
"I trust that you will be frank and forthcoming in your exchanges and that your recommendations will prove beneficial to the continued advancement and deepening of parliamentary democracy in your respective countries," Prime Minister Christie said.
© Copyright 2016 by thebahamasweekly.com
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