There will be more work for the 10th Parliament as “two powerful agendas” take centre stage with great expectations, new Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman, said.
He said the Parliamentary Management Committee–a bipartisan body comprising members from the government and opposition that looks at and sets the agenda for the House–will be convened on a regular basis. There were criticisms in the last Parliament that the committee was not very active. “I think this Parliament will certainly, for the first time, take us further or furthest that we’ve ever been in terms of work… because you have two powerful agendas coming to the floor. Two powerful and sometimes competing agendas,” said Trotman in an interview with Stabroek News on Friday.
He said he expects that in this Parliament there would be far more private members bills, more motions, the work of committees will increase and MPs will receive the requisite training and exposure in sitting on committees and providing oversight functions on government spending and the implementation of government policy. “It shouldn’t even be members of the opposition because in a properly functioning parliament, government backbenchers have as much right to question what ministers are doing or not doing correctly or not. This is the kind of new culture that we’d like to have,” he said.
The new Speaker highlighted the training of Members of Parliament as critical. He noted that private members’ days – where any business brought by opposition MPs are discussed – are important but there was the argument that opposition members do not bring anything. Trotman said he thought that this was as a result of insufficient training and insufficient support. “For example if you’re a member representing Region 8, your ability to move an idea into a policy document and from a policy document into a legislative draft without any legal training or background is really very slim,” he said adding that MPs and parties have to agitate for this.
Providing all the parties in Parliament with legislative assistance and support staff and even if need be, office space so that they can have research assistance and persons to help is critical, Trotman said. “A lot is expected but we have to have the capacity and the support mechanisms in place to meet those expectations,” he stressed. He said that Parliament Office – with its own budget – should take the lead in this without having to get the blessing of the executive as had happened in the past. “In the past there have been training sessions but government has had a quite a hand in who goes and there were instances of good opportunities being bypassed for the sake of insufficient funding or something of that nature,” he stated.
Trotman said he also hoped to see more independence for MPs. “I am hoping that in this Parliament we’ll see legislation introduced to increase the independence and the status of members of parliament,” he said.
The party list system cries out for attention, he stated. “Should parties elect members of parliament or should the people directly choose who should represent them? This is one of the anachronisms that we have I think to get rid of,” he declared.
Trotman also pointed out that in the past there was the feeling that it was only the government’s agenda that was being heard. He recalled the complaints about the absence of private members’ days, about members’ motions never being approved and opposition members’ suggestions for amendments to bills not being supported by the government. “One did get a sense that only the government’s business mattered. Certainly you would expect that the government’s business should take precedence in a normal setting but should their matters be the only matters and so that is something that we need to look at,” he stated.
Quizzed on his view of full time parliamentarians, Trotman said that this would be ideal but to move from MPs not being full-time to full-time in one session is not possible. The conditions have to be in place, for example staff, equipment and office space but this would entail a huge financial outlay and would take years to put in place, he noted.
Trotman also said that he wants more electronic sharing of information and less paper and to establish relationships with the Parliaments of Brazil, Venezuela and Suriname–connections which could strengthen the relationship with the neighbouring countries. In addition, he spoke of a fund to assist MPs and relatives during illness and death. He said that not every parliamentarian is a doctor or a lawyer and he has seen some run into hard times. This can be set up with a percentage of their salary going into the fund, he stated.
In terms of the rotation proposal floated during discussions between APNU and the AFC on the Speaker post, he said that there had been no decision. Asked whether he saw himself serving the full term as Speaker, he responded: “Of course if elected there’s expectation that you will serve the term.” The term could be two years, he said, referring to a government official speaking about the possibility of early elections. “But I’d like to serve for as long as I’m allowed to. Like I said there’s no decision on rotation but it’s something that the party will have to, the executive of the party will have to decide on. At the end of the day, it’s a personal decision that I would have to make too but let us see how it goes. In politics I’ve learned never to say never to anything,” Trotman said.
The executive committee of the AFC would have to make a decision on the issue if it is raised again and also in light of its position outlined before the decision was made. Asked whether he would go with the decision of the executive once it is made, Trotman said: “Once it is made and it’s a reasonable one I would have to respect it. But let’s see. I’m not a man who is in love with power but then you got to respect that you don’t whittle away power or give it away on a whim or a fancy because you have a responsibility once you have it not to, like a sacred duty I call it, to hold it and nurture it and to hand it over to the next best person.”
