Bad start to Parliament 2011

I will start with a list of some problems with Parliament, a list gauged from the thousands of hours of my life — hours which I will never get back — spent in the Parliament chamber listening to droll Parliamentarians and their droll attempts at debate.

Firstly, some Parliamentarians really have no comprehension of the dictum, “brevity is the soul of wit”. Because most are overly conscious of their innate importance to the free world, they go on and on and on, ad naseaum, repeating the same points over and over, spurting banalities and irrelevancies and doing everything they can to filibuster and fill up the maximum allocated time. Occasionally they may make a valid point. But having struck gold, they then make the same point over and over and over.

Here is a basic lesson in communication: the shorter the message, the greater the impact. Why? Because people will be able to focus on what is being said and are less likely to get bored, confused or downright angry at the speaker. For example, instead of speaking for an hour-and-a- half to say three points (and maybe make two that are of no relevance whatsoever) why can’t this be done in 15 minutes? This will allow more speakers, make a more interesting debate, and encourage the public to actually watch the Parliament Channel.

It is no excuse to say that the debated issues are complex, for the length of a contribution has no relation to its complexity. In fact, as a rule of thumb, the longer a person speaks the dumber their contribution is likely to be, because they have filled up their time with useless rhetorical flourishes and irrelevant “gallery”.

Another problem is the fact that MPs have no sense of when a full-fledged debate is justified. Take last week Wednesday, when the House of Representatives sat well into the early hours of Thursday. The House was not even debating a bill proper. It was debating a motion to have a bill examined in detail by a Parliament joint select committee. Yet, judging from the grandiose, garrulous and self-important contributions from some members, you would swear that a vote on the bill was in the works. Contributions were made by 17 speakers. It was not even a bill being debated!

Another problem in the current Tenth Parliament is the ceaseless and mean-spirited fighting that takes place between the Government and Opposition. Last week, I was waiting for the whole thing to come to blows. Some of our Parliamentarians have no dignity or sense of decorum and do not appreciate justified criticism. On both sides!

“It’s not about bussing mark to score a point,” Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley complained in a very long contribution made well after midnight when the general population was asleep. He was both right and wrong. The Attorney General Anand Ramlogan had earlier asked former PNM Prime Minister Patrick Manning, “Where the grand piano gone?” The AG is arguably right to raise issues of corruption. But this should not be done just for political points but because it is right to do so. If only all our politicians really cared about democracy and had the courage to make Parliament work.

Email: abagoo@newsday.co.tt