Moultrie also calls for MPs’ salaries to be increased
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Former Speaker of the House of Assembly Halson Moultrie yesterday commended Parliament for passing a resolution to establish a standing committee to assist in managing the office of the House as a step in the right direction.
The resolution was passed on Wednesday.
Among other things, the standing committee will also be charged with determining the support parliamentarians should receive to carry out their work.
During debate on the resolution, numerous MPs acknowledged the critical importance of ensuring the independence of Parliament to carry out its constitutional mandate and the need for separation of powers — a case the former speaker repeatedly made from the chair during the last administration.
“It’s a step in the right direction,” Moultrie said when contacted.
“I would have liked to have seen the government move with respect to codifying in law the independence of the Parliament and the judiciary.
“I know during our session, the Court Services Bill was read for the first time; that was tabled, and the Parliamentary Services Bill was drafted but never tabled because the executive at that time didn’t see the wisdom in moving forward in that direction.”
Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell moved the resolution.
The standing committee, the Management and Budget Committee, chaired by the speaker, will have the remit to assist and support the management of the office of the House and to sit jointly with the Senate committee with the same remit.
It shall have the powers to send for individuals and papers and sit from place to place and leave to sit during the recess.
The committee will also determine if a new Parliament should be built.
The Fox Hill MP also said he believes the House of Assembly should provide an accountant to assist members to carry out their public disclosure, which is a “scramble” to prepare ahead of the March deadline.
As it relates to the finances of parliamentarians, Mitchell said a $2,500 allotment for Family Island MPs should be addressed.
Now, I know some Bahamians are going to say ‘all these politicians are interested in is money’…
– Former House Speaker Halson Moultrie
Opposition Leader Michael Pintard said the opposition has agreed in principle to look at and address the matter and called for a bipartisan approach to resolve some of the issues that have existed for decades.
Yesterday, Moultrie said he believes MPs’ salaries, which he considers “minimum wage salaries”, should be increased to the “equivalent of permanent secretaries”.
“That way, the size of Cabinet or the executive can be reduced so that the Parliament would have and would be able to function in a more effective way,” he said.
“Now, I know some Bahamians are going to say ‘all these politicians are interested in is money’, but if you understand the system, you would understand that it is of immeasurable benefit to the system of governance and accountability when members of Parliament do not have to be rewarded with executive positions to have a comfortable income.”
He said in general election landslide victories, prime ministers have remedied the situation of having a lack of control of the government by making appointments of MPs to executive functions, which affords them higher salaries as a reward.
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