Strengthening Parliamentary Democracy

Transcription

1 24 th Commonwealth Parliamentary Seminar Report Strengthening Parliamentary Democracy 27 May 1 June 2013 Singapore Report by Antoinette Sandbach AM Introduction Antoinette Sandbach AM attended this seminar on behalf of the National Assembly for Wales. This report attempts to identify those areas where the National Assembly may have lessons to learn from the experience of fellow parliamentarians in other Commonwealth legislatures, with particular reference to the context of Singapore. The Seminar The seminar took place in the parliamentary buildings in Singapore between 27 May-1 June. Antoinette Sandbach attended every session and was an active participant in most. There were 44 delegates from a wide variety of commonwealth countries, with representation from Africa, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Americas and the Atlantic, India, New Zealand and Samoa, South East Asia and of course the hosts Singapore. It was clear that there were a number of representatives at a state level where legislatures operated with what might be regarded as a devolved powers model. The daily programme of seminars focussed on best practice and how to disseminate best practice amongst the commonwealth nations, in order to strengthen representation and democratic accountability. Each seminar session was concluded with a question and answer session which allowed delegates to compare the different practices in their parliamentary jurisdictions. 1

2 Main Topics Roles and responsibilities of Members of Parliament Professor Margaret Wilson from the University of Waikato gave a seminar on the Inherent functions of Parliament and the varied roles and responsibilities of Members of Parliament. The discussion centered around: (1) what are the external influences on the relationship between the government and the opposition in the context of the Parliament; (2) How can the executive be held to account by the opposition in Parliament; (3) What is the role of the Speaker in ensuring the respective roles of the government and the opposition function appropriately in Parliament; and finally (4) How are the changing expectations of the people to be involved in political decision-making affecting the role and functions of Parliament? During this seminar Antoinette Sandbach highlighted the De Hondt system of election to regional lists, in combination with the first past the post system of election in constituency areas in the National Assembly for Wales. Interesting comparisons were made with the representatives of the state parliaments of Australia, particularly around the financial accountability of the legislature. Changes in the National Assembly s scrutiny functions around the committee structures caused some concern from other delegates who questioned whether the role of legislative scrutiny meant that there was insufficient scrutiny of the Government and the actions of its Ministers. Role of Speaker Session 3 focused on the role of the Speaker and the Deputy speaker. Singapore recently elected their first female speaker Madam Halimah Yacob who outlined the process in Singapore. One of the main differences was that the candidate for speaker in the Singapore Parliament need not be an elected MP. The Singapore Parliament sits for just 30 days a year, with 1 to 2 sitting days per month with 1,200 parliamentary questions a year, and 40 Bills per year. There are 4 official languages: Malay, Tamil, Mandarin and English and documents are all translated for parliamentarians. There was a high degree of technical assistance within the Parliament, with MPs conducting the majority of their work on computers. The role of the Speaker in the Queensland parliament was outlined by Dr Mark Robinson Deputy Speaker, including the mentoring role played, to help and educate new MPs and provide pastoral support to MPs. The Deputy speaker played a key role in public forums used to promote civic 2

3 engagement and education, including youth parliament, leadership seminars and other educations opportunities. This was largely undertaken by the Deputy Speaker because there were fewer calls on the Deputy Speakers time. A panel of Deputy Speakers is available, with 1 Deputy available from the Government and 7 MPs on the temporary panel, which are from opposition parties, and independents. The Temporary panel concept provides opportunities for new MPs to grow, and encourages bipartisanship. There was discussion of the experience of Singapore and extensive interrelationship between the Parliament and the Civil Service structures of Government, which largely were not separated in the way that they are within the National Assembly for Wales. The Singaporean Parliament can appoint MPs from those unelected, and use that appointment process to bring expertise to within the Government which may be missing from those directly elected. This included specific appointments for example of civil engineers and representatives of the arts in Singapore. Within the machinery of Government, specifically the civil service it was clear that the directors of the Civil Service had annual performance reviews, and were not promoted if these had not been achieved. Specific targets were set for each 5 year government period, and where a civil servant had failed to achieve their Key Performance Indicators then it was unlikely that they would be considered for promotion to the next level. Directors of each civil service area would only be in place for 5 years, with a maximum tenure period of 10 years. This meant that it was expected that at approximately aged 45 the lead civil servants at Director General level should move into private sector employment. Pensions are not provided by the Singapore Government to any civil service employees. There was extensive recruitment into the civil service from the private sector. This clearly differed substantially from the experience of the National Assembly. The role of the CPA in strengthening parliaments was discussed with the possibility of education missions, and parliament missions. Holding the Executive to account. It was clear from a number of sessions that there was a considerable variance between the functions of scrutiny under the process in Singapore, with that in many other jurisdictions. In particular there is no official recognition of the role of the opposition, and no formal recognition of any opposition party in terms of funding, or indeed in terms of an official opposition. This prompted considerable discussion from other delegates about the process of holding the government to account for its delivery of its 3

4 programme of government. Processes of the National Assembly were highlighted in particular the official recognition of the opposition, funding to opposition group offices to allow research and alternative policy formulation. Support provided to opposition members to conduct research and expert technical support available to committees to assist in their scrutiny work. Crispin Poyser, Clerk of the Overseas Office of the UK Parliament outlined the role of written questions, oral questions, topical questions, Prime Ministers Questions and Urgent questions. There was considerable discussion about the way in which using this structure of questions allows the executive to be held to account, and helps to get information into the public domain. Experience of the National Assembly for Wales was highlighted, including best practice, where Ministers answered the questions, and worst practice where one line or one word answers provided no or little information, and where the Minister was seeking to avoid answering the question. The Freedom of Information Act was highlighted as a valuable tool for elected representatives in Wales, as a fall back where limited information was provided in response to written questions. There was a discussion as to whether or not standing orders could be strengthened to provide greater accountability of the executive to the Legislature. Women in Politics Professor Wilson also presented to the Seminar a paper on improving the representation of women in Commonwealth Parliaments. The financial pressures on women were discussed extensively, in particular whether or not processes were properly in place for those with caring responsibilities in National Parliaments. The good practice of IPSA and the UK Government were highlighted in this context. Concern was expressed at the falling numbers of women being elected to the National Assembly for Wales, although there was considerable recognition that the starting point of the National Assembly had been high. Questions as to what the factors were causing the fall in numbers of women being elected in Wales centered around selection for key winnable seats in National Parliaments, and whether or not now the Assembly was growing in stature with greater powers, this was resulting in changes in the gender balance. The role of the Presiding Officer in promoting Women in Public life was highlighted to delegates as well as the number of women holding cabinet positions in the Welsh Government. The importance of role models was considered key, and it was agreed that ensuring good female representation all levels of political representation was considered vital. There was discussion concerning increasing female representation at delegate level for Commonwealth meetings and seminars 4

5 Additional discussions looked at whether or not quotas were a good idea, with considerable support being expressed for this idea from the African Nations. It was clear that financial and caring pressures were of great concern to the majority of delegates. The problems were identified as being largely at a party level relating to selection, and then whether or not sufficient support was in place to allow women to remain in post, even if selected. The role of the media was also discussed and whether the media perpetuated gender stereotyping. Concerns were expressed around the sitting hours of National Parliaments and whether or not distance and travel was excluding women from coming forward and engaging in politics, particularly where there were family responsibilities. Childcare issues were contentious, with a recognition that in many countries cultural considerations meant that childcare is effectively seen as the preserve of women, and that in particular this constituted a real barrier to entry into politics given the failure of Governments to have in place structures which would support those with young children in the workplace. Many delegates expressed concern that where women were present at a National level in politics that promotion was largely within what would be seen as the women s subjects of child and maternal health and education. Communication Meet the people session Delegates were taken by Singaporean MPs to their constituencies. We were able to sit in on a constituency surgery, which in some ways operated in a very similar manner to those run by many Assembly Members. Any member of the public can come and see their local MP. Volunteers assisting the MP operate a form of triage on the seriousness of the cases, and letters to assist constituents are drafted and signed there and then if that is possible. The main issue in Singapore revolves around access to housing, which is the key issue. The average price of a three room property is approximately $600,000. In social housing this is substantially discounted to approximately $200,000. All the housing allocations are decided by local area committees and this is overseen by the MP. As there has been no change of government in Singapore, there is considerable linkage between the area committees, and the governing party. The role of the media was discussed, and in particular the use of the libel laws in relation to politics and presentation of government policies. The Growth of online media, in particular Facebook and Twitter was seen by 5

6 some as representing a threat to parliamentary sovereignty as there were differing standards of press regulation, and there was concern that inaccurate stories could swiftly spread via this medium. The role of social media in relation to the work of the Assembly was explained, and Antoinette outlined the role of social media in engaging with younger people in Wales was common amongst Assembly Members. Concerns were expressed that social media placed MPs in a vulnerable position and that this might contribute further to the decline in public perception of parliamentarians. Conclusions The seminar was an extremely useful learning experience. The small size of the group of attendees meant that there was a tendency to mix between nations and continents. The Singapore hosts went out of their way to ensure that we had informative sessions, and that the lessons were part of an on going exchange of ideas and learning. I would be delighted to participate in any sessions hosted by the Wales Branch of the CPA for the future. The staff members and in particular the Expert assistance provided to the group by Crispin Poyser and Professor Margaret Wilson was of the highest standard. I was delighted to be able to attend and it was a very useful learning experience to see the different perspectives of commonwealth countries. Antoinette Sandbach AM 6