New parliamentaryStanding Orders mandatingthe Prime Ministerto answer questionson national issues andGovernment performanceonce monthly willforce the PM to “be ontop of the Government”and answer many questionson the state enterprisesector, the OppositionPNM signalledyesterday.
Opposition LeaderKeith Rowley indicatedthat in Parliament as heand House leader DrRoodal Moonilal bothspoke about Parliament’sStanding Orders, duringyesterday’s sitting of theHouse of Representatives,Tower D, WaterfrontCentre, Port-of-Spain.The Standing Ordershave been revised for thefirst time since 1961. Areport on the revision wascompleted recently, outliningchanges in variousareas of parliamentarypractice, including reducingMPs’ speaking timefrom 75 minutes to 40minutes.
Deeming yesterdayhistoric, Moonilal said thenew Standing Ordersenhances Parliament andMPs’ representative roles.He said Governmentproposed they shouldbecome effective from thenext session of Parliamentin July, which would giveMPs time to study andget accustomed to them.Rowley urged they shouldbe used as soon as yesterday’sdebate was concluded.
Moonilal said a revolutionaryaspect was thesection mandating thePM to answer pointedqueries on any subject,including current mattersof national importanceand the general performanceof government andits agencies. They wouldbe limited to one matteronce a month. Among new committeeson various nationalmatters, such as nationalsecurity and publicadministration, willbe one to monitor howGovernment assurancesand promises are implemented.
Rowley, who said therevision was a watershedmoment, added that itwill assist in managingT&T’s affairs.Describing the questionsfor the PM as a welcomedevelopment, Rowleysaid it was a way toensure Government waskept on its toes.“The Prime Ministercannot be sleeping on thejob.
Questioning thewhole governmentthrough the Prime Ministerforces the PrimeMinister to be on top ofthe Government,” Rowleyadded.Saying it would helpprevent ministers doing“their own thing,” Rowleysaid a lot of governmentagencies would comeunder focus, via questionsfor the PM, and a lot ofquestions would flow tothe Prime Minister on thestate enterprise sector.“So they better be onthe ball,” Rowley added,noting that sectorwould be under thePM’s scrutiny.
Moonilal said the newStanding Orders proposedto cut Lower House MPs’speaking time fromthe current 75 minutesto 40 minutes (plusten more) for those piloting presentations.MPs speaking in subsequentdebate wouldhave 30, plus ten minutes.Rowley, while agreeingwith reducing the time,suggested 45 minutes wasbetter than 40.
He said First Citizenshad been trying to setterms and conditions forappearing before parliamentarycommittees “andthe next thing we know,one man walks out with$10 million and comesinto Government and amanager ends up with695,000 shares in an IPOand Parliament appearsto be helpless in treatingwith this.”Rowley complainedthat in doing his job asOpposition Leader andquestioning the situationhe had been described asan “angry nuisance.”
On proposals to startParliament sittings at 1.30pm and end at 8 pm, Rowley said after doingconcentrated work for sixto seven hours, “youbegin to flag.” He calledfor more frequent of sittingsnot marathon sessions.The new StandingOrders mandate GovernmentMPs to deliver areport on overseas businesstrips within 21 daysof their return.
People who are notmembers can seek redressfor statements madeabout them in Parliamentby writing to the Speakerwithin two weeks of theoffending statement.Parliament will alsohave a fixed July-Septemberrecess each year.