Vacancy!

- Anyone can apply

- No job description

- No qualifications

More than 130 persons with varying qualifications and skills will tomorrow apply to fill the 63 vacancies in the House of Representatives.

Almost every one of these applicants will have a different idea of what they should be if the Jamaican people were to employ them.

The successful applicants will have a contract for five years with no easy way for them to be fired for non-performance, no annual appraisal and no job description from their employers.

Would you employ a tailor without giving the person a job description? Would you want a bank manager who 'made it up' as he or she went along? Or would you employ a gardener without stating what his or her job should be? How then do you employ members of parliament and not give them a job description.

No matter what the job, most workers receive a verbal or written job description or some instructions when they are employed.

This is true whether you are a landscaper or bank manager, a teacher or construction worker. The job description or specification is the basis for evaluating performance. If you do not do the assigned job, you run the risk of being fired.

The only job that has no job description or clearly defined specifications is that of member of parliament (MP). It is time that MPs have a job description. One that we can use to measure their performance and hold them accountable to.

As Jamaicans go the polls to vote for 63 MPs, some persons are now asking questions such as: What is the MP to do when we elect them? What is the precise job description of the MP? What exactly are the terms of reference for the job of MP?

More and more people are beginning to reject the 'handout' politics which has been practised across the island for decades. Jamaicans are now seeing it for what it is - a means of ensuring people are dependent on the MP so that the party they represent is re-elected.

Left up to their own devices, without their employers' clear instructions and expectations and no job description, the elected leaders have created their own, self-serving system of representation.

In that system, there is little or no representation. Many MPs hardly report to their place of work - the Parliament and constituency. Compared to other countries, the Jamaican Parliament has a low record of meetings and there is a great backlog of unanswered questions, legislation and motions.

Other Commonwealth parliaments, the UK House of Commons and the Canadian House of Commons, meet approximately twice as many times as Jamaica's Parliament and this is reflected in the number of bills passed.

What does the Constitution say?

The Constitution empowers MPs primarily to "make laws for the peace, order and good government of Jamaica". Importantly, the Constitution requires the Cabinet to be collectively responsible to Parliament and this requires MPs to play an oversight role in holding Cabinet ministers collectively responsible for the "general direction and control of the Government of Jamaica".

Traditionally, MPs have ignored this responsibility and have allowed Cabinet decisions to dominate parliamentary debates. The MPs of the governing party collectively vote as "rubber-stamp legislators", rarely voting against their party, even if what they are voting for is not in the best interest of the people and their constituents.

So, from the Constitution we get that the role of MPs is one of lawmaking and oversight of the executive. But, that doesn't capture the total will of the people in electing an MP. In a constitution where the words "the people" are noticeably absent, we have to look to the oath of allegiance for the other, most important role of the MP, that of representing the people of Jamaica. With the oaths MPs swear to: " ... be faithful and bear true allegiance to Jamaica; uphold and defend the Constitution and the laws of Jamaica and, conscientiously and impartially discharge my responsibilities to the people of Jamaica".

MPs seem to think that "responsibilities to the people of Jamaica" means taking over the roles of government ministries and agencies - providing for constituents' needs for food, clothing, shelter, work, burial benefits, treats, everything from birth to death. Where the MP can't provide, the 'Don' often does.

Problems and some solutions

The main problem is that politics has become a process of immoral diversion of public resources for individual and partisan political gain. The fix is to return the primary function of state support to the agencies of the state, not individual politicians.

There is limited access to the decision-making process at the parish/local level. The MP and councillor determine the priorities and how the money is spent. The role of the elected representatives must be redirected towards collaboration and consultation with multi-stakeholder assemblies of the citizens, that is, genuine, strong and effective Parish Development Committees, Development Area Councils and Community Development Committees. The Constituency Development Fund should no longer be treated like the personal pocket money of the MP who determines when, where and how the money is spent.

There is limited representation of the people's needs and interests by elected representatives in Parliament. Let there be an established time on Parliament's agenda each month for MP presentations of the positions, concerns and priority needs as articulated by their Parish Development Committees. Such as provision would force MPs to have community consultations and would ensure closer collaboration between MPs and community representatives.

The job of the MP should be:

Clearly, MPs must come to their job with adequate education and skills to undertake these core responsibilities and, if not, must be trained to develop the requisite competencies. An understanding of the Constitution and the legal framework for lawmaking are essential requirements.

MPs would also need adequate supporting resources to enable them to effectively execute their job.