During the last parliamentary period, that is from 2019 to 2024, we were able to witness at first hand the abysmal level some of our politicians perform day in, day out. How they were ever selected as candidates and subsequently elected must be the mystery of the century that perhaps only Hercule Poirot could elucidate
In the last Legislative Assembly, the ominous signs were already there, practically right at the beginning, it was typified in the way a few of them were expressing themselves in an attempt to put their point of view across. Some of them seem to have their short speeches or interventions prepared beforehand, perhaps by a third party to enable them to link a few sentences together or simply said as little as possible, probably the safest bet. It reminded me of my childhood when a politician was nicknamed as the minister of silence, perhaps he was wise to keep mum instead of the drivel that we heard spouting in the last parliament. It is a blessing in disguise that they have been shown the door by the discerning electors.
A few ex-ministers simply did not perform at a level expected, they were either blasé or simply incompetent. I will not name and shame them but they should recognized themselves by their frequent faux pas when addressing the assembly. I feel that they were appointed for specific reasons more than their ability to deliver the goods though I must recognize that some of them were up to ministerial standards in their approach, their public relations and their eloquence. Those whose performance was abysmal (in saying that, I am being kind and polite) they were more concerned in constantly glorifying their leader and mention his full names constantly in their dispatches and obviously hoping to gain brownie points to further their parliamentary career. I have met a few ministers professionally during that period but generally I have not been very impressed.
Of course, they were not helped in their task by the Loudspeaker who felt that the only way to assert his authority was to shout louder than everybody else or coining phrases such as “rest in peace” or “look at your face” which were offensive and completely out of context. Perhaps it could even be termed as an unparliamentarily language. His performance brought the whole proceedings probably to a new record low, which is his legacy to a position that needed decorum, diplomacy, fairness and most of all impartiality. Obviously, he never had these qualities even if they were on the tip of his nose. The sobriquet of Loudspeaker suited him to a T, his partisan approach was blatantly obvious and in the long run has done a disservice to the previous government.
He might have fooled some of the people some of the time but in the end, he became a liability, so a way had to be found to ditch him without creating waves. Obviously, that did not work as the consequential damage had already been done with the results of the last general elections as evidence, I say good riddance. Prior to Nomination day, the selection of candidates for the previous government became a comedy of errors. Some sitting members of Parliament were not selected and ditched, then subsequently recalled following strong local protests. If they were not up to the required standards set by the party in the first place, why were they recalled? Obviously, that did nothing to exude confidence among their own supporters and contributed in some way to their massive defeat at the polls, hopefully never ever to return.
I reserve judgment on the new intake. However, there are two aspects that I must bring up at this stage:
1. I hope that the new members of Parliament will be available regularly, perhaps in a fortnightly or monthly surgery for their constituents to sort their grievances and listen to their points of view.
2. A Freedom of Information Act is a must, the soonest possible, the better so as not to repeat the mistakes of the previous government where every piece of information was deemed to be too sensitive to share with the public at large and we ended up with little or no information at all.
Let us hope for better standards, otherwise, the right to recall your member of Parliament will become absolutely vital once the law is enacted.
Claude Canabady
