The Deputy Speaker...

By G.A.Dwyer Astaphan

Who will be the Deputy Speaker in the next parliamentary term?

Section 32(1) of the Constitution states that, at its first meeting following any general election and “before it proceeds to despatch any other business”, the National Assembly shall elect a Speaker, who, according to Sec.32(2) may be:

(a) a member of Parliament, provided that he or she is not a member of Cabinet or a Parliamentary Secretary (a distinction to which I will return later on in this discussion);
(b) a person who is not a member of Parliament but who is qualified for election as a Representative or appointment as a Senator.

Then Section 32(3) states that the very next duty of the Assembly, after it has elected its Speaker and before it can do anything else, is to elect its Deputy Speaker who, unlike in the case of the Speaker, has to be a member of Parliament but he or she cannot be a member of Cabinet or a Parliamentary Secretary (again the distinction comes up).

We can reasonably expect Mr. Curtis Martin to resume his duties of Speaker, unless he has chosen to stand down (I have not heard anything to suggest this) or unless he too might be disqualified (I have no reason to believe that he is) and is himself to be targeted in this ‘Challenge Season’ in which the new year begins, following quickly upon the heels of the ‘Injunction Season’ in which 2009 ended.

So who will be the Deputy Speaker?

One thing is certain: he or she will come from the Opposition Bench.

Because all persons on the Government side are ministers and members of Cabinet, and they are, accordingly, disqualified from being Deputy Speaker.

From where I stand, it is difficult for me to envisage Mr. Amory or Mr. Brantley of the CCM, or Mr. Richards or Mr. Hamilton of PAM, taking up the position, as they are likely to see it as a bit of a fetter.

If my analysis is correct, we are left only with one person who can be Deputy Speaker, and that is the person appointed as Senator by the Opposition Leader.

And that is another story of intrigue.

Because the appointment will come about as a result of negotiation between the two parties in Opposition, CCM and PAM, each with two seats in the National Assembly, the result of which negotiation could be that one Party  gets the Opposition Leader  and the other gets the Senator.

It is that Senator who will be the Deputy Speaker.

Will the Prime Minister seek to forge a relationship with that person and his or her Party (which, remember, will be CCM or PAM) like he had done with Mr. Patrice Nisbett and the NRP in the previous term with the aim of ensuring a smooth flow of business in the Assembly when the Deputy Speaker gets his or her turn to preside?

And if so, how will this affect the dynamic with the other Party in Opposition which may be left sitting with just the Opposition Leader’s post in its hands, but out-numbered  3 to 2 ?

If it is PAM with the Senator, could this augur well for the relationship between Labour and PAM, for our political culture, and for democracy?

How would it ‘look’ with a PAM Senator sitting as Deputy Speaker under a Labour Government? What might or might not happen? Can you envisage him or her taking an overly zealous Prime Minister, Dr. Denzil Douglas, to task?

Alternatively, if the Opposition parties agree that PAM will take Opposition Leader and CCM will take the Senator. Could it augur well for the relationship between CCM and NRP ,for the political culture of Nevis, and for democracy in our Federation?

How would it ‘look’ if a CCM Senator sits as Deputy Speaker? Do you envisage that person, while in the Chair, reprimanding the Honourable Attorney General, Mr. Patrice Nisbett, for something or other?

Or, in order to avoid any such possible ‘embarrassment’, is it unrealistic to wonder if the Honourable Speaker, Mr. Curtis Martin will sit in many marathon sessions, with few or no ‘comfort’ breaks for himself, and many adjournments just to ensure that the Speaker’s seat is not turned into a hotspot for ‘insurgency’.

How interesting and intriguing!

Before  I  end, let me return to the term used in the Constitution “member of Cabinet or Parliamentary Secretary”.

Clearly, the language of the Constitution separates the two, that is to say, a Parliamentary Secretary is not, and cannot at the same time be, a member of Cabinet.
We know who a member of Cabinet is.

Let us now see who a Parliamentary Secretary is.

Section 59 of the Constitution states that the Governor-General, acting on the advice of the Prime Minister, may appoint Parliamentary Secretaries from among the members of the National Assembly to assist Ministers in the performance of their duties.

Parliamentary Secretaries are also known as Junior Ministers. They are given no right under the Constitution to attend Cabinet or to have a vote therein. Yes, they can be invited to Cabinet from time to time, conventionally at the behest of the Prime Minister or their own Minister, and can there make presentations, answer questions, etc.

For the period 2004 to 2010, however, there were two Parliamentary Secretaries who acted with full Cabinet powers.

This created more than a little unease in a number of quarters, with concerns of adherence to constitutional requirements, governance conventions and propriety, political correctness, seniority, and so on, being raised.

But nothing was done about it. At least,  not then.

The problem has now been ‘solved’, by the appointments of those two unelected persons in this new term as full-fledged Ministers and by the appointment of another person, the formidable Dr. Timothy Harris, as ‘Senior Minister’, whatever that means, perhaps so that those who need to be hushed will now be hushed, and those who need to be appeased also will now be appeased.

It’s nothing, if not interesting. And it shows every sign of remaining that way for some time to come.

Mr./Madam (Deputy) Speaker, may it please you.