Commonwealth Parliamentary Association hears calls for elected officials to work in public’s interest

Last Updated on Monday, 2 September 2024, 21:29 by Writer

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association‘s (CPA) 46th Conference of the Caribbean, the Americas, and the Atlantic Region opened on Monday in Guyana with stirring appeals for parliamentarians to work in the public’s interest, including improving governance, because already people are losing faith in the democratic process.

Opposition A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) parliamentarian, Ganesh Mahipaul said one of the most significant challenges facing modern parliaments is the erosion of public trust. He said scandals, corruption, and the perception that elected officials are more interested in self-preservation than public service have contributed to widespread cynicism.

“This loss of faith in parliamentary institutions undermines the legitimacy of democracy itself. When people feel that their voices are not being heard or that their representatives are disconnected from their realities, voter apathy increases, and the very fabric of democracy begins to fray,” he said in his address on behalf of Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton who is overseas.

Mr Mahipaul told the opening session of the conference, whose theme is “Democracy: Challenges Facing Modern Parliaments”, that parliamentarians need to find ways of working closely together. Citing globalisation, the role of international financial institutions and challenges such as climate change and pandemics, Mr Mahipaul recommended that the 46th CPA Conference develop a model approach for greater bipartisan involvement of parliaments in negotiating agreements. “This might involve strengthening regional cooperation, ensuring that international agreements are negotiated with parliamentary oversight, and creating frameworks that allow for greater control over the impacts of globalization,” he said.

The CPA Chairman, Barbados’ House Speaker, Arthur Holder asked the conference to “examine with purpose” several areas of urgent concern including strengthening parliamentary security. “What have we done to improve security for parliamentarians inside and outside of parliament? Are we going to wait until some of our parliamentarians are assassinated before we actually take vital steps to improve security?” he asked. He also questioned how many parliaments want to strengthen the Public Accounts Committees and expand Select Committees to strengthen transparency and accountability and corruption, use artificial intelligence to counter misinformation, inclusivity of women and disabled persons. 

He urged Caribbean parliamentarians to work together to improve the functioning of their houses and unitedly counteract global challenges. Mr Holder said when delegates return home, they should use the lessons from conferences such as this one to ultimately benefit their populations because evidence indicates that people are losing faith in politicians. “When we get back home, what have we done to improve our parliamentary processes for the benefit of all? That is what we need to d0 to make our parliaments more effective and more meaningful so as to regain the trust of our populace. Until and unless we do that, politicians will be of no use to the countries. If you look on a daily basis, on a yearly basis, people have become apathetic as it relates to voting. Look at the elections often times, you would see that there are decreases in persons who vote,” he said. Mr Holder appealed to delegates to do what is right for the people who have elected parliamentarians.

Guyana’s President, Dr Irfaan Ali, in his address, said democracy could not merely be confined to parliamentary democracy but also to organisations whose executives have not been elected. “Democracy transcends every aspect of life. Sometimes, I smile at organisations talking about democracy and when you examine those organisations, for decades they never had elections in electing their leaders. One-person run organisations and then we take their word as the truth-bearer on democracy,” Dr Ali said. He stopped short of openly naming Mr Mahipaul’s People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) political party whose recent internal electoral process was questioned by contestants and other party officials.

Touching on Guyana’s National Assembly, he said there is a functioning and inclusive Public Accounts Committee, which is chaired by the opposition, select committees to achieve consensus on legislation, other sectoral committees and inclusion of opposition representation on statutory bodies, although the country’s parliamentary system is adversarial. “The fact that we embrace an adversarial system of parliamentary democracy does not mean that we must be enemies or that there must be an absence of inclusion,” he said.

Citing the constitutional role of the Opposition Leader in giving consent to the substantive appointment of the Chancellor of the Judiciary, Chief Justice and the Police Commissioner; he said the experience has been “gridlock” which suggests that consensus could not be enshrined in law. “There is a lesson to be learnt from this. You cannot always legislate political inclusion, cooperation and consensus. Facts! This is why I believe that much more can and should be done to foster a culture of dialogue and inclusion,” he said.

The President recommended that parliaments function in an environment of respect.