By Isaac Massaquoi
We have a new parliament. As a nation we must congratulate ourselves that inspite of all the partisan bickering, intimidation and violence, we have elected a parliament that must now prove its worth. Our neighbours in Guinea have an elected president but after two years, they still don’t have a parliament. Let’s thank God for little mercies.
Many MPs in our last parliament are no longer there – some lost the right to contest their former seat in their party primaries, others were defeated by candidates from other parties. In fact others just didn’t stand up to fight, they fled in front of the enemy. They have a tale to tell.
The biggest losers were the PMDC. They were completely wiped out of parliament; they polled less than 30,000 votes mostly in the south-eastern parts of the country. So we have only two parties in parliament with the opposition SLPP hopelessly overwhelmed by the APC with those undemocratic chiefs (they are not elected by universal adult suffrage) providing unquestionable back up to the government.
I am sure the new parliament, with many of the old ones still around is deeply aware of the image problems that dogged their relationship with those of us who put them there in the first place. A lot of us saw them as people who were completely out of touch with us and the issues we care so much about; that they cared only for themselves as evidenced by their comparatively huge salaries, allowances and retirement package; that the opposition boycotted proceedings at the slightest provocation making it impossible for the voices of their supporters to be heard. It was clear as November 17 drew nigh that a lot of those MPs would not be returning to Tower Hill.
It’s a fact that on both sides of the house, there are MPs who made it only because they had a powerful party machinery behind them. That’s the nature of party politics. For them, the real struggle stopped at the point of being certified as candidates by their parties. They were in safe seats where voting for those parties is as taken for granted as the fact that death will come to all of us someday. Others fought real battles to stay in the parliament and they have only their people to thank.
There are others who definitely cheated their way to Tower Hill. Good luck to all of them anyway.
At the start of every parliamentary day, the Clerk of the House says the following prayer:
“Almighty God, without whose help labour is useless, without whose light search is vain, we thine unworthy servants here gathered together in thy name, do most humbly beseech thee to send down thine heavenly wisdom from above to direct us in all our deliberations.
And laying aside all private interests, prejudices and partial affections, the result of all our counsels, maybe to the glory of thine blessed name”.
What a great way to put people whose job is as important and sacred as being an MP in the hands of Go as they discharge their duties. But a good many of them see the prayer session as a meaningless ritual, a bit like witnesses in criminal trials who stand in front of a judge and take an oath to say the “whole truth and nothing but the truth” but end up telling lies.
In his speech to open parliament, the president gave nothing away about his legislative agenda in his final term of office and we should brace ourselves up for some surprises. We should also be ready because the government may attempt to use its huge majority in parliament to push through certain pieces of legislation the opposition and perhaps the rest of civil society will find difficult to accept without amendments.
It’s sad that individuals or groups of MPs are unable to stand up against their parties because of their own convictions or in the interest of their constituents. The constitution gives no breathing space for such independent thinking and performance. This makes parliament a boring place where for the most part disagreements are only cross party. A world in which everybody agreed with everybody else just because they live in the same house, is a weird world – scratch below the surface a bit, you will find festering disgruntlement and disillusionment.
I understand the fact that it is very important to maintain party discipline but like they do in advanced democracies, on important questions having to do with serious national issues parties allow their MPs to speak and vote their consciences with their people in mind. But with ruthless party whips breathing down their necks, MPs have almost always just agreed with each other depending on which parties they belong to. Why are we different?
This parliament, more than any other one will be under everybody’s microscope. It is not business as usual and the MPs better take the people seriously. Both parties allowed some kind of democracy in selecting their candidates for the last elections; it is that openness that made it possible for a good number of MPs today to be where they are. It is by that same process that many who will be carried away by the thrills of being an MP will be swept away in five years time.
We know former MPs who on being elected completely forgot their people, relying instead on being cosy with powerful party officials in the hope that they will be rewarded with party symbols. It will not work. There is no alternative to listening to their people and working in their interest.
A lot of the work of parliament is done in committees. I have witnessed many of those committees at work in the past and I find it hard to say I was impressed. I have read about the work of parliamentary select committees in other parliaments. The very make up of those committees in our parliament has created some concern. The last time we heard a lot of bickering about some MPs failing to be selected into committees of their choice and we know why. I know that their professional competences outside parliament dictate which committees they are put into. I am not sure whether that was or will be the case this time round.
I have also not witnessed any situation where MPs have called professionals in their various areas of work to help them understand complex pieces of legislation ahead of a debate. A master farmer in eastern Sierra Leone who finds himself in parliament because his people voted for him and is then put on the agriculture select committee, needs more than cosmetic help to take effective part in a debate on how climate change is affecting agricultural productivity. Such an MP needs some professional from industry or the university to help him see through the science of climate change.
In approving ministerial nominees, the people of this country should be provided with a safe way of providing information to the committee that will be useful in reaching conclusions. We know of people who have appeared before those committees and told lies about academic qualifications and tax status. I can’t be sure those documents are verified at any stage. Sometimes the speed at which these approvals come leave us in no doubt that scrutiny is either relaxed or ignored.
I can only wish the MPs a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. There’s a lot of work to do in the coming year and people like us in the media will keep the lights on in that well and in the committees. Whether the committees are meeting at parliament or visiting some remote location out of Freetown, we will be there in the interest of the people. Your oversight function is an extremely important one and it’s not for people like me to stress that any further.
The demands on the MPs time and money by those who elected them will also drive them crazy. Some of their constituents have this warped belief that their MPs are their pot of gold.
Some of the MPs themselves helped shape that mentality with their disingenuous campaigns in which they built castles in the air. They have to be sure that the people will come after them to occupy their places in those castles.
2013 will be an interesting year.
