Editorial

Unlike in previous times, the Anguilla House of Assembly is meeting quite frequently and it always appears that there are several matters of general public interest to put forward by both Government and Opposition and to debate. This is good parliamentary practice and should be adhered to so that the elected representatives can discharge the people’s business in a way that will satisfy and enlighten them as the case may be. This has been, and continues to be, the developing trend that the Speaker would like the House to follow. For one thing, it has the advantage of dealing expeditiously with matters of importance to the electorate and to the efficient running of the island’s affairs and thereby prevents a building up and shelving of agenda items which can otherwise be dispensed within record time.
Alas, this is not working out the way it should. It is increasingly becoming the norm for members of the House to deliberately or, to be kind to them, to inadvertently disregard the real substance and subject matter of the Order of Business. The result is that the listening public, who may not be privy to the agenda before the House, can form the opinion that there is really nothing of significance to engage their attention.

The fact is that the proceedings in the Assembly are broadcast live on radio and television which makes the situation even worse and disgusting if it is only a platform for posturing. Radio and TV time is important and if the broadcasts emanating from the Atlin Harrigan OBE Parliamentary Building are not appealing and informative, listeners and viewers may rightly think that their interest would be better served by listening to a calypso, the news or viewing a movie of some sort or a network documentary.

There should be no room for masquerading in the House of Assembly or for any Member, Government or Opposition, to think that the Speaker should pander to his or her demands for time to speak irrelevantly in the name of democracy. The Speaker, a very able person and undeniably the only one in the position to have given a new stimulus and direction to the House, has been over-generous in allowing Members time to ventilate their concerns as representatives of the people in their constituencies. As commendable as this may be, it appears, at times, that such a privilege is being taken advantage of by a departure from the Order of Business to unrelated, unnecessary and abusive chatter, thus lowering the standard of debate.

It is indeed a hard balancing act to perform to show fair play and evenhandedness for both sides of the House in order not to be accused of partiality, but certainly the time has come for a tightening up to keep Members focused in their presentations and, in the case of Motions, to have them well-ordered. In this way, Members may be allowed to speak for as long as may be necessary without straying into frivolity or personal attacks thereby negatively impacting the smooth functioning and dignity of the House as well as eroding support for what may have been a well-needed Motion.

During the recent Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference here, the Speaker in Anguilla, who was the recipient of several accolades from the local parliamentarians, was described as being evenhanded in his conduct of the proceedings of the House. With this to his credit, it should not be offensive to Members if he should now, in the interest of good parliamentary practice, bring about a re-focusing of the House on what should in fact be the pertinent issues and business of the people before it. Precious time cannot be wasted by allowing important matters to be repeatedly postponed because of a runaway situation in the House of Assembly.