Know the roles of Parliamentarians.

Introduction

This is part two of my series on what Parliamentarians can do and cannot do. Sometimes we act like the parliamentarians are supposed to do everything. Mind you, some parliamentarians misled as if they are some types of saviour and will rescue them.

I am not a politician, but I think I know enough to know what they can do and what they cannot do. This is why I encourage all new candidates to study how the Government works because when I listen to some of the promises being made, I know they cannot deliver them. Perhaps they do not know themselves any better but there are some that know better and still do not tell people the truth.

They cannot stop the slopes, but they can put measures in place to intercept them

The former premier was correct in saying that she cannot stop the sloops. Like the former premier, no other parliamentarian can stop the sloops. If Haiti remains in the state that it is in, the citizens will continue to find ways and means to leave the country and one to leave Haiti is through sloops.  The state of Haiti is beyond the control of our local government. In fact, I believe that Haitians are encouraged to come to TCI.

Now while the Government will not be able to stop the sloops, they can certainly put measures and equipment in place to intercept the sloops so that they do not reach our shores.

They cannot stop the murders, but they can pray, put measures in place so that they can be caught or deterred

It is very unfortunate that we had almost 50 murders for the year, which is the highest to date. If the politicians could have stopped the murders from taking place, this would be a good point for the Opposition to campaign on. However, history has shown that no political party or politician can stop the murders from taking place. Both political parties have campaigned in the past about crime and when they came to office, they realized that crime should not be politicized. The same thing happened in the Bahamas and both PLP and FNM could not curb the murders there.

The real issue is a spiritual issue. In fact, as I can recall the former premier concluded that the murders that are taking place in our country are a spiritual issue.

It is a spiritual thing that is going on. We all must turn from our wicked ways, repent of our sins, pray and seek the Lord and when we do that, we will see a transformation of the crimes.

I will say this though, the Parliamentarians can at least keep the people informed. They should not be quiet even though they cannot stop the murders.

They cannot give you a job in Government, but they can create positions

Despite the noise in the market, the Parliamentarians are not involved in the hiring of the civil servants. The recruitment of civil servants are done through the Office of the Deputy Governor and employees must go through vigorous exercise. The Parliamentarians, however, can create positions in the budget.

Now when it comes to the Statutory Bodies, the CEO position of most statutory bodies is confirmed by the Cabinet, but the Board normally makes the recommendation.

They cannot give instructions to civil servants, only to Permanent Secretaries through their policies,

The elected officials really cannot tell the civil servants what to do or what not to do.  The Parliamentarians set policies, and the Permanent Secretaries are expected to carry out those policies.

They cannot award you a contract

Again, the parliamentarians cannot reward you with a contract. All contracts are bid on. It is up to you as an individual or company to bid on a tender. I know it can be very discouraging, especially if you have tried multiple times with no success.

Tenders are open and all tenderers can attend the opening. This process is very transparent. However, it is lengthy. There is a procurement Board that deals with the tenders and then the cabinet is advised of the successful bidder. Parliamentarians do not play a role in the selection despite how it may appear. However, they can change the procurement policy because right now we are competing with tenders throughout the world.

They do not run the Government departments.

Each Government Department has a head. The day-to-day activities of the Department are run by the Head who ultimately reports to the Permanent Secretary of that Department. For example, if the garbage is not collected in your area, it is not parliamentarian’s role. If a department is out of paper, it is not the parliamentarian’s role. If the lines are long, it is not the parliamentarian role.

Parliamentarians do not run Government Departments. We must hold our Department Heads and Permanent Secretaries accountable for the respective departments. Sometimes when we think we are rowing the parliamentarians, we are rowing the civil servants.

They do not run the Statutory Bodies

There are several statutory bodies in the Turks and Caicos Islands. The Parliamentarians appoint members to these Boards. However, Each Statutory Body is headed by a CEO along with other managers and staff. The CEO reports to the Board not to the Minister or a Parliamentarian.

Parliamentarians are not tasked with running the Bodies. If the Statutory Bodies say NHIP needs extra funding, it is up to them to prepare a business plan for the Minister to get more funding. If the IT system is down, it is not the Parliamentarian’s role to explain to the public.

They do not handpick the scholarship recipients

The Government provides funding for scholarships. However, there is a Scholarship Board that must follow the rules and nowadays the applicants’ names are not on the application when presented to the Board

The Parliamentarians do not and should not interfere in who gets a scholarship as there is a process.

They do not issue business licences and they cannot closed down a legal business

Politicians do not issue business licences nor can they close down a legal business. They can pass legislation such as the Real Estate Amendment and allow a grace period.

They cannot make you entrepreneurs

Parliamentarians cannot make you entrepreneurs. They can pass policies to allow you to have a business and to empower you. However, you have the be the one to make up your mind to start a business and compete effectively to succeed.

They cannot give themselves a salary increase

The salary increase for the Parliamentarians is set by the Integrity Commission. However, the recommendations go to the Cabinet and the Parliamentarians can accept or reject the recommendations before presenting them to the House of Parliament.

Conclusion

It is very critical we understand the roles of Parliamentarians. Some of the things we blamed them for are not their responsibility. The civil servants play a very important role in Government. One thing we need to recognize is no matter who the Government of the day is, you will still have those same civil servants, and the outcome will be the same. You can change Government easily, but you cannot change the civil servants easily. Therefore, be careful about the messages you accept from Parliamentarians.