– tells manufacturers it will boost Parliament
Eager to meet the demand for greater accountability, Speaker of the House, Ralph Ramkarran is pushing for full-time MPs to strengthen parliamentary oversight.
He says a full-time cadre of parliamentarians would enhance the work of the legislature, which has been propelled by reforms geared towards increasing its independence from the executive, and encouraging more participation by civil society. Ramkarran told a Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) business luncheon yesterday: “Full-time MPs must be on the agenda if parliamentary oversight, which is being increasingly seen as the key to the development of accountability, is to be effective.”
He said the demand for strengthened accountability is the driving force behind the focus on improving remuneration and resources for MPs, which is barely a priority given the competition for scarce resources. Ramkarran, however, urged that consideration be given to amend the Standing Orders to promote the heads and deputies of the parliamentary sectoral committees, and possibly the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), to full-time MPs to start the process. He suggested that they could serve as full-time MPs with minimum salaries to be paid, while employers could be required to give pay with leave, to be supplemented by the government if it is below the minimum.
Ramkarran was invited to address the luncheon on “The National Assembly as a Facilitator and promoter of Investment and Business in Guyana.”
Explaining that recent reforms have created an enabling environment for private sector participation, he charged the room full of business leaders to take the initiative in establishing a relationship with the parliament and its various committees, or risk losing the opportunity to influence the legislature. He pointed out that before the establishment of the Sectoral Committee on Economic Services there was no parliamentary forum for the business community to take its concerns, except through individual MPs or their respective parties.
He pointed out that there were several outdated laws that the business community might want to take an interest in.
Ramkarran noted that the Roman-Dutch Mortgage which was enacted with Dutch occupation in 1616 remains the major instrument for security centuries after it has outlived its usefulness. He also drew attention to the fact that several laws governing the conduct of business date back to the 19th century and they have yet to be amended, including the 1891 Bills of Exchange Act, the 1913 Sale of Goods Act, the 1916 Pledge of Goods Act and the 1917 Bills of Sale Act. With many more years of legal reform to modernize the business sector, he emphasised the need for the business community to upgrade its capacity to become a serious lobbying bloc. “You cannot expect someone else to be looking out for you and your interests,” he said. “You must do so yourself and organized yourself in such a way that this can be done competently and efficiently.”
He reminded that the parliament is small and under-resourced, though state and donor resources are being funnelled into reforms. In this context, he emphasised the importance of developing stakeholder interest and the commitment to utilize the capacity for engagement, a cost effective way to bolster its oversight of the executive.
Ramkarran, however, cautioned that successful lobbying would be a challenge, particularly in the area of legislation. “I am quite certain that there will be much frustration along the way in trying to bring matters before sectoral committees or trying to influence legislation but that is the nature of the business. You win some and you lose some,” he said. At the same time, he sought to defy the perception of the parliament as merely a ‘rubber stamp’- an idea he attributed to the fact that the government possesses a majority, and therefore holds total control of the legislative agenda.
He said the situation was similar in other Westminster parliaments, in Trinidad, Barbados and Jamaica, where there are no similar complaints.
He added that while there might have been justification for such a characterization in the past, reforms, including the creation of sectoral committees as well as the practice of referring controversial bills to select committee marked significant progress.
Ramkarran felt it was important to erase the perception because of its potential to discourage stakeholders like the private sector to take hold of the opportunities that exist to influence the legislature.
