Basseterre, St. Kitts, February 16, 2017 (SKNIS): Public education with regards to the functioning and the rules of the Parliament is necessary, said Premier of Nevis, Honourable Vance Amory, appearing on “Working for You” on February 15, 2017.
He said that through good governance, any prosperous country must follow the rules, which govern it. He said that persons cannot arbitrarily break the rules and expect that when they shout they will be allowed to persist, adding that it is not sending a good signal to young people.
Premier Amory said that there are times when people show a lack of interest in Parliament. He credits this to the disrespectful conduct of parliamentarians. He said that the business of parliament is critical to the good governance and direction in which the countries’ democracy must go.
The premier said that an idea, which has been put forward, is that there will be public discussions on the rules which govern Parliament. He said it is important because “our people need to understand what governs the institution which gives the kind of credibility to our government, to our democracy, and one of those fundamental issues is how parliament works.”
“If we do not have an appreciation about how Parliament works, people will always continue, sadly, to accept and seek to excuse the kind of behaviour, which has persisted in our Parliament and we have to set an example,” said the premier. “We are small enough, we are educated enough and we should therefore not accept and tolerate the abuse of the privilege of Parliament or the abuse of the rules on how Parliament should go.”
Premier Amory said that educating the public about the rules and functions of Parliament is an integral part of governing a society properly.
“It is an important part of our good governance; it is an important part in showing up or democracy and also setting the example for our people, especially our young people who are impressionable or may want to believe that the way some people in Parliament behave is acceptable and it cannot be,” said the premier.
Premier Amory said that he wholeheartedly supports the education of the public and believes that the Speaker has the authority to take control of the Parliament and follow the rules and if the rules indicate some courses of action, he or she should take them.
