Members of the Upper and Lower House stand at attention as Governor-General Sir Howard Cooke makes his exit from Gordon House, Duke Street on March 31, 2005. - NORMAN GRINDLEY/DEPUTY CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
THE ABSENCE of more frequent Parliamentary meetings in the Lower House over the last few months can easily be blamed on the presidential campaign of three senior members of the Cabinet and a past Cabinet minister.
It is unfortunate but while the country is paying attention to this diversion from its business, important Parliamentary matters such as the approval of an improved Criminal Assets Forfeiture Law to fight criminal gain gets delayed while the contenders and their respective teams traverse the countryside in a 'de facto' electioneering mode. An important issue such as the tabling of the First Supplementary Estimates can also get pushed aside until March, since presidential business is clearly more important than the country's business.
PARLIAMENTARY LAPSES
It is high time then that we put in place provisions to tighten up and avoid such Parliamentary lapses in attendance. One provision is to improve the linking of pay for Members of Parliament with their House attendance. It cannot be the old situation however where some members can just sign in and slip out. They must be present for at least two hours to be considered eligible for that day's or week's pay.
Secondly, if they have to be elsewhere on the nation's business, e.g. an overseas engagement or some major internal issue such as a labour dispute that involves say the Minister of Labour's personal attendance to resolve, then written explanations can be forwarded to the House with evidence such as a detailed itinerary of an overseas trip or written reports on the conference attended elsewhere that necessitated the absence.
One could even allow exemptions for say six occasions of Parliamentary sittings for the year, where the M.P may do his personal business and avoid writing for such exemptions. An MP could therefore use this time to attend the graduation ceremony of an overseas child or even get special exemption for cases of bereavement.
However, it cannot be business as usual in the coming year when we are all being called on to improve productivity and where attendance at our jobs is one way of achieving this. Parliamentarians are servants of the country and if any find attendance cumbersome then they must be prepared to give up the post.
No doubt some may see such tightening up of attendance criteria as restraining an MP's freedom and some form of personal attack on their integrity, but the nation's business cannot be run the same way. If we are to change the slow way we do things in Jamaica, we must make fundamental reforms that will better the lives of those who still live here. The evidence over the last few months justifies these changes.
