Running the country with a balanced rather than a lopsided Parliament is the challenge facing the new PNP administration. It is also an opportunity to revisit the changes which have not really revitalised the legislature over the past several years.
The newest of these was the opening of parliamentary committees to the public and press. Of these the Public Accounts Committee is the only one chaired by the Opposition, a factor which may well become a matter of contention with more voices in its favour.
Other changes before that were the radical revamping of the Budget Debate as the major legislative function of a parliamentary year. What used to be a marathon exercise involving the whole House is now curtailed and followed by Sectoral Debates which often peter out and lose public interest.
All those changes came with a lopsided Government majority. Now with more Opposition voices to contend with, the ruling party cannot take for granted that its policy measures can be rammed through the legislative process willy-nilly.
It will be up to the Opposition side to challenge the status quo. And that includes working to dispel the notion of a Cabinet seeming to use the legislative chamber as a rubber stamp for policy already determined at the highest level.
Mr. Patterson, who is stepping down some time during this historic fourth term, has said he wants to achieve certain goals before he goes. Judging from what he has said since the election, he is committed to involving the Opposition Leader in a series of monthly meetings. The Opposition along with private sector and non-governmental organisations are also to be invited to form an advisory group to monitor implementation of the National Crime Plan.
All of these, as it were, informal consultations must eventually impinge on the operation of a more balanced parliamentary chamber. For it is through this forum of the people's representatives that the vibrancy of government must be reflected.
One of the facts which emerged from our own series of Editors' Forums in the election season was that some MPs had not visited their constituencies in which the Peace Management Initiative had to function. It was in such garrison enclaves that the dons had come to hold sway and indeed win the loyalty of residents. We have contended that this is a corruption of the representative principle which is the basis of an elected chamber of Parliament.
Other parliamentary observers have suggested that the independent voice of selected nominees to the Senate should be maintained. We expect that this will be taken into account as more impetus is given to long delayed constitutional reforms. The new Parliament must come alive to the broad range of interests of all the people.
