Most Members of Parliament leave this Parliament compromised. They ask why do you not speak but they find it difficult to answer. Why is it difficult for them to answer that I cannot speak because I have to go through a party system? It is because they also fear that they will be expelled. The party will also descend on you and say why did you answer like that. Parties want to be seen to be democratic, yet they are not. So, you need to now look at it and say we come to Parliament again – I have seen committee chairpersons and why doesn’t the committee sit down and elect a chairperson? The party must elect a chairperson. There must be a process because for that Member to be in Parliament they went through primary elections and a general election which is a democratic process.
However, when it comes to electing chairpersons there is no democracy. Even in the ruling party I am told that the chief whip was appointed and not elected. Let me speak Madam Chair and set the record straight. If the election of the Chief Whip was conducted, then you have a Chief Whip who represents the interests of the party but if you have a Chief Whip appointed, he will represent the interests of those that appointed him or her. It is important that we understand that and we are able to see how best we can now have this process of elections within these Committees. The advantage of this option is that it is a much more open, democratic and would eliminate the draw backs and deficiencies of the current system. The Members of the Bills Committee would no longer be largely guaranteed Government loyalists.
The scrutiny of Bills is likely to be more genuine and thorough. The full range of knowledge and expertise of the backbenchers is likely to be more efficiently deployed. Backbenchers are critical but you cannot be a back bencher if you are not being given a chance to speak. For me, I have chaired Committees and I have said being a backbencher is a more effective position one can have but you can only be effective if you are given an opportunity. How many in the political parties are known to be effective backbenchers who can be able to speak? I have seen great contributions by Members of the ruling party and there is no acknowledgement of it. I have seen great contributions from Members of the opposition but there is no acknowledgement of it. They fear being asked kuti sei wakamuomberera and that becomes a crime. Yet in this House, when something is good and an issue of national interest has been brought up which affects everybody, we must be true parliamentarians and acknowledge.
The only thing that this House has mastered is heckling to a good point. We know heckling to be done when something is not good but most are good points. I remember Hon Biti coming here and Members of the ruling party stopping him from debating the issue of sanctions yet they have been attacking him saying that he is the one who pushed for sanctions. When it was time for him to debate, the debate was adjourned. How pathetic. You have been given an opportunity to say what you want to say but when it was time for him to speak and defend himself, there was heckling and I said this is so sad. He listened to a lot which was being said about him and waited for his opportunity but he was never given an opportunity to continue. There was so much noise then I realised that they have made him more prominent than any other time because they were afraid that he would respond. Hon Biti is brilliant when it comes to issues of responses and so forth. The whole party had a caucus to stop one person from speaking. A total caucus – had lunch to say when Hon Biti gets up, you must stop him.
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