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A good move, Prime Minister Golding
Saturday, September 29, 2007
We would like to commend Prime Minister Bruce Golding's announced intention to give more voice to the Opposition in the Parliament. For, as he rightly said in his address to the Lower House after the swearing-in of parliamentarians on Thursday, this move will strengthen the legislature.
"We do not strengthen Parliament if that strength is to be exerted by the governing majority in Parliament," the prime minister said. "The strength of a Parliament is a coefficient of the strength of the Opposition."
How true.
The proposed changes to the Standing Orders announced by Mr Golding include:
. having all select committees of the House of Representatives chaired by an Opposition MP as of next week;
. amending the Standing Orders to allow backbenchers the right to be heard at the discretion of the speaker, instead of having to table Private Members Motions and await their disposal weeks later;
and
. rearranging the table of precedence in the House to give the leader of the Opposition, the speaker and his deputy and the president of the Senate and his deputy more recognition.
Mr Golding, it appears, has started to deliver on his campaign promises, for these measures were clearly outlined in the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) manifesto which, we believe, is an impressive list of intentions and policies to which we intend to hold the new Government.
We were particularly impressed with Mr Golding's announcement that the Government intends to have the Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica (PBCJ) provide live television coverage of activities in the Parliament, and for the legislature to use the Internet as an outlet to fully inform the public about what the people's representatives in the House are doing.
That, we hope, will contribute to a greater appreciation for the function of Parliament and enhance public education about governance. For despite the media's role in reporting the happenings in both the Lower and Upper Houses, we sense a general disinterest among the public about the discussions that frame the laws being made by their representatives.
It wasn't always this way. We remember well how, in the 1970s, political awareness among many Jamaicans was high. At that time, though, there existed in Jamaica an ideological divide as the country became a player in the Cold War between the East and West.
Unfortunately, the divisive politics played itself out in violent confrontations on our streets and resulted in the murder of hundreds of Jamaicans.
We have come a long way since then. For despite the venom in the rhetoric we heard in this last general election campaign, and a few acts of mindless violence in the run-up to the vote, we saw a genuine effort by the leaders of both the PNP and JLP to eschew political violence.
Getting people to appreciate each other's right to hold differing views will, no doubt, lead to a reduction of the hostilities that have smeared our politics for too long.
We expect, therefore, that the Government's move to give the Opposition a greater voice in the Parliament will contribute to a general acceptance of the value of debate which, we must point out, can be vigorous without becoming violent.
The Opposition, we have no doubt, will embrace these changes, as they can only redound to the benefit of the Jamaican people on whose behalf Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller says they will keep the Government under constant scrutiny.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
We would like to commend Prime Minister Bruce Golding's announced intention to give more voice to the Opposition in the Parliament. For, as he rightly said in his address to the Lower House after the swearing-in of parliamentarians on Thursday, this move will strengthen the legislature.
"We do not strengthen Parliament if that strength is to be exerted by the governing majority in Parliament," the prime minister said. "The strength of a Parliament is a coefficient of the strength of the Opposition."
How true.
The proposed changes to the Standing Orders announced by Mr Golding include:
. having all select committees of the House of Representatives chaired by an Opposition MP as of next week;
. amending the Standing Orders to allow backbenchers the right to be heard at the discretion of the speaker, instead of having to table Private Members Motions and await their disposal weeks later;
and
. rearranging the table of precedence in the House to give the leader of the Opposition, the speaker and his deputy and the president of the Senate and his deputy more recognition.
Mr Golding, it appears, has started to deliver on his campaign promises, for these measures were clearly outlined in the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) manifesto which, we believe, is an impressive list of intentions and policies to which we intend to hold the new Government.
We were particularly impressed with Mr Golding's announcement that the Government intends to have the Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica (PBCJ) provide live television coverage of activities in the Parliament, and for the legislature to use the Internet as an outlet to fully inform the public about what the people's representatives in the House are doing.
That, we hope, will contribute to a greater appreciation for the function of Parliament and enhance public education about governance. For despite the media's role in reporting the happenings in both the Lower and Upper Houses, we sense a general disinterest among the public about the discussions that frame the laws being made by their representatives.
It wasn't always this way. We remember well how, in the 1970s, political awareness among many Jamaicans was high. At that time, though, there existed in Jamaica an ideological divide as the country became a player in the Cold War between the East and West.
Unfortunately, the divisive politics played itself out in violent confrontations on our streets and resulted in the murder of hundreds of Jamaicans.
We have come a long way since then. For despite the venom in the rhetoric we heard in this last general election campaign, and a few acts of mindless violence in the run-up to the vote, we saw a genuine effort by the leaders of both the PNP and JLP to eschew political violence.
Getting people to appreciate each other's right to hold differing views will, no doubt, lead to a reduction of the hostilities that have smeared our politics for too long.
We expect, therefore, that the Government's move to give the Opposition a greater voice in the Parliament will contribute to a general acceptance of the value of debate which, we must point out, can be vigorous without becoming violent.
The Opposition, we have no doubt, will embrace these changes, as they can only redound to the benefit of the Jamaican people on whose behalf Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller says they will keep the Government under constant scrutiny.