BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IN the weeks preceding and following Parliament’s opening session, a potential government decision to increase the number of parliamentary senators has dominated headlines and divided the public.
Although senators have existed in the Federal Parliament since independence, the spotlight on these supplementary parliamentarians intensified in the lead-up to the March 10 Parliament reopening.
The election of a Deputy Speaker, which constitutionally must happen during that opening session and which must be filled by someone who is not a member of Cabinet, highlighted the deep division between the two benches.
Each government Parliamentarian was also a Cabinet member and therefore ineligible to fill the position, while the opposition had adamantly refused to accept the duty. The impasse was temporarily resolved when Sen. Hon. Richard Skerritt gave up his ministerial position to assume the role, but he wasted no time in resigning and resuming his ministerial duties the next day.
The Deputy Speaker post now lies vacant, and as the opposition shows no signs of retracting its stance and every government member is once again ineligible, the government has been exploring its options – and increasing the number of senators is one of them.
“We are going to raise the number,” Deputy Prime Minister Hon. Sam Condor said exclusively to SKNVibes. “We’re not sure by how many just yet, but it’s definitely something we will do. There’s been no other consideration.”
Section 26 of the Constitution sets the number of House Senators at three or no more than two-thirds of the elected representatives. With the Federation’s 11 Constituencies, the upper limit of senatorial appointees is normally recognised as seven.
As of March 2010, there are three serving Senators – the government’s Skerritt and Hon. Nigel Carty and opposition lawmaker Hon. Vincent Byron.
“We’ll leave the post empty for a while, but we do plan to fill it. Being a minister of government is very demanding and we can’t afford to give up any of our Cabinet members. So the Deputy will have to be one of those new senators,” confirmed Condor.
Such a move would come with a slew of questions: Who will these new senators be? Will the number be increased to the maximum of seven? What are the benefits/drawbacks to having more senators? And how can the government justify the additional expense to the parliamentary payroll when the Federation is suffering from an almost EC$3B public debt?
Parliamentary imbalance
According to one local lawyer, extra senators would make the National Assembly imbalanced because there should be at least three times as many elected representatives as there are nominated.
“The present composition is 11 elected to three senators. Any increase in senators would be to six to maintain the 2:1 government advantage. Six nominated members against 11 elected will be imbalanced and give too much voting power to unelected members,” said Charles Wilkin QC.
He stressed that more focus should be placed on improving legislative and constitutional processes instead of adding to the parliamentary benches.
“We should be discussing improved parliamentary processes before we review the number of senators. Members should use the power of parliamentary questions and the finance review processes which are built into the system to promote transparency and accountability, the famous ‘show and buzz’ words.”
Meanwhile, political scientist Dr. Asyl Warner noted that though there are benefits to additional senators, the economy could “ill afford” to handle the strain they would place on the public purse.
“There’s an advantage to both sides. Each side can use that second senator to groom someone for elected politics. It’s an election training ground for that person to understand the machinery of Parliament so they won’t enter politics as a greenhorn.
“It is adding a burden to the system. More people in anything does not equate to efficiency; very often, it equates to inefficiency. The justification the government will give for more senators is that running a ministry is taxing. But too many of our ministers overwork themselves because they wish to run the ministries.
“Cabinet creates policy, and it is the responsibility of the public service to implement it. But if the wage bill becomes too high, government will eventually have to bite the bullet and cut the public service.”
The 2009 Budget Estimates indicate that EC$514 000 was allocated for remuneration of members of Parliament in 2009.
Who will be the new senators?
The composition of the new senators is also important in relation to the existing make-up of the House. All but one of the current 14 Parliamentarians is a man, and none of them fit the UN’s (15 to 24) or the Commonwealth’s (15 to 29) youth categories.
Warner explained that, in theory, senators were appointed to bring expertise and a view to the House that was not “platform politics”. He however admitted that that was not always the case in local politics.
“These should be people who are qualified in certain areas so that if issues arise, they can address them both inside and outside Parliament. It is wise to choose people with knowledge, experience and expertise in the particular ministry in which they’re placed,” he stated.
“But all too often locally, blind party affiliation is behind the appointments. In our case, they’re often given senior ministerial duties which are normally left to elected people.”
Warner outlined how he saw the parliamentary benches being filled, reiterating that it was the “opportune moment” to groom someone for a political career.
“They should look at young professionals and begin to put some balance in the legislative process in terms of gender. Put them not just as senators, but align them to ministries so they can learn the parliamentary and legislative procedures and eventually become elected,” he stressed.
Azilla Clarke, the outgoing Chairperson of the civil society NGO Non-State Actor Panel, joined Warner’s call for the presence of more women and young persons in the House. However, like the political scientist, she thought the addition of more senators would be an unnecessary and detrimental step.
“In his 2010 Budget presentation, Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas said the government was instituting a hiring freeze and that civil servants over the age of 55 would have to retire by September of this year,” Clarke highlighted. “I would hope our politicians are mature enough to resolve the problem without incurring additional expense to the public.
“But if they can’t, and we have to go this route, then the statistics are clear. More than 50 percent of the population is under 30 and 51 percent of our households are headed by single women. These voices should be amply represented in Parliament.”
Only time will tell what the government’s next move will be. But with the rising public demand for government accountability, it is clear that persons will not be satisfied anymore with the typical political tricks and ploys.
