70
Further, on the basis of fears that the speaker was not an independent figure, participants felt
that there was a need for the speaker and his deputies to be “elected and removed in a
democratic, open way”, in the words of one member of parliament. Participants felt the
appointments procedure compromised the separation of powers, and ensured that the House of
Representatives tended to serve the interests of the executive; this point was however
vehemently denied by a member of leadership present, particularly in regard to the claim that
committee chairmen were being bypassed in decision-making over the appointment and
removal of committee members.
The need for financial procedures to be made more inclusive and transparent was expressed by
participants as well. Participants felt that it was especially important that the proposed
parliamentary budget be approved and audited by the two chambers themselves, rather than the
current system in which budgets are prepared by the two speakers and submitted to the
executive without consultation.
114
During the discussion, a number of participants claimed that
the way in which parliamentary budgets were drawn up was “not transparent,” with members of
parliament feeling that the only way to ensure they were able to participate in budgetary
discussions would be to “establish new systems for consultation on financial matters.”
Inter-Parliamentary Communications and Reporting
Participants identified as a priority the inter-parliamentary communications and reporting sub-
category. Participants expressed the need for a greater flow of information within parliament,
including weekly bulletins, an electronic database accessible to members and staff and an
increase in cross-party groups/issue-based caucuses to ensure that members of parliament and
committees collaborate across parties. While the issue of Hansard reporting did not emerge
during the workshops, it was later discussed with the deputy speaker during the parliamentary
visit in which the need for capacity support to the existing Hansard staff members was
highlighted. Interviewees also agreed that the current parliamentary reporting systems were
extremely weak and therefore hindered the effective communication of parliamentary
proceedings across parliament.
Human Resources Support, Infrastructure and Materials
Finally, participants identified the need to establish policies and procedures for human
resourcing, following a merit-based recruitment model, as a priority. Participants spoke of this
issue particularly in regard to the
Guurti
, the members of which are thought to lack skills for
fulfilling their duties. While this issue dovetails with that of the Legislative Capacity category,
the problem of there being no minimum requirements for people to be appointed as a member of
the
Guurti
was understood to be symptomatic of a wider absence of adequate internal
recruitment processes. In the words of one participant, “According to our constitution, the
requirement to be qualified for the
Guurti
is very minimum. There is no level of education,
there is no experience. And now-a-days, it goes as a heritage. If old man dies, his son takes his
place…appointment procedure is also wrong.” The implications of this, can be, as another
114
This is prior to the final budget being passed by parliament.
