Our Parliament, our democracy
In the ‘Awoko’ newspaper of Wednesday 17th February and I found a really interesting and captivating headline, ‘Thieves in Parliament?, as was stated  by the Speaker of Parliament, Abel Stronge. His statement came about following the continuous absence of some Members of Parliament from Parliamentary settings.
The seeming no nonsense Speaker, Abel Stronge cautioned that if MPs are being paid emoluments and are not performing their duties as expected and especially absenting themselves from parliament, then, they are ‘defrauding the nation and if that is the case we are what the father told his daughter of her brother being a thieved…’ This is more apt a description that one could imagine for some of our Parliamentarians.
Abel Stronge, in my view has been living up to the expectations of the citizenry of this country. He has demonstrated that though being made Speaker by the APC government, he has a duty to serve the people of this country and I commend him for that.
Looking at the critical role of Parliament in the sustenance of democracy and good governance, it would be unfair for some of them not to be attending parliamentary debates irrespective of what the outcome of such a debate may look like. This is particularly discouraging taking into account the fact that when they wanted our votes, they were literally chasing us all over the place. I remember, the one currently representing Kissy and how he used to come canvassing and begging the people to vote him. But alas!! But I see the problem; some of them only had the luck of going to Parliament through the parties they now represent in Parliament. Most were voted because they contested under the APC, other than that, forget it, it would have been a completely different story.
Some few months back, I wrote an article, titled, ‘Failing Parliament in a failing democracy’ .In that article, I articulated the need for our MPs to be supported by the other arms of government. I extensively looked at what they can do in improving the democratic credentials of a country and in this case, Sierra Leone. And thank God, as you ready this piece, most, if not all of them, have received slightly over 42, 000 dollars to facilitate their movements. But I am beginning to feel betrayed by the way some of them are treating us generally.
Take for instance, the way we are even being represented by some of our MPs. The one representing the Kissy community is hardly seen or heard presenting the case of Kissy people in Parliament. Not only that even the one representing my people in Binkolo is, in my view poorly representing them and it is frustrating that during electioneering process, these are the very MPs chasing us for our votes.
Now, there appears to be another side of this issue. An MP I spoke to over the weekend argued that there is the aspect of some Parliamentarians going to visit their constituencies and some, performing oversight functions and as such, most seats in Parliament would remain empty. Granted that this is the case, there is also the urgent need for some of our MPs to ensure an adequate and effective representation.
But it is disastrous that when such things are happening the advocacy for ‘government by journalism’, as advanced by William T.Stead has not gained the seriousness it deserves. In his work, titled’ Government by Journalism’, WT Stead submitted that in a Parliamentary democracy, the elected member, soon after election leaves ‘his constituency and plunges into a new world with different atmosphere, moral, social and political’ but the editor lives among the people whose views he essays to express. That besides, the chamber of the press is never closed and it is ‘in perpetual session’, for one –third of the year, parliament is in recess.
Let us also look at the debate from another angle; how many Parliamentarians could be in a position to deliver as many speeches as the Editor or the columnist who writes as many articles as he can in a week. However articulate a Parliamentarian may appear, he could not be in a position to deliver several speeches in a week. The press is the eye, ear and voice of the people and it is the true voice of democracy. It represents all spheres of society and has no limitation insofar as voting for Parliamentary seat is concerned. It is closer to the people and W .T Stead argues that “the wielders of real power will be those who are nearest to the people†and that is journalism.
Let me attempt to be practical here; when the ACC is currently investigation the Minister of Marine Resources, it is the expectation of the general public that she be relived of her official functions by the Executive arm of government. This has not happened. And the public will now turn to the media to advocate for such to happen, when Parliament would have failed to even raise such an issue. So where is the true democracy from the perspective of parliamentary representation?
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