Reduce number of urban MPs and increase rural MPs- Dr. Simutanyi
Reduce number of urban MPs and increase rural MPs- Dr. SimutanyiJanuary 21, 2009
The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) says suggestions to increase parliamentary seats should only be entertain with regard to rural constituencies.
CPD Executive Director Neo Simutanyi has challenged government to consider increasing parliamentary seats for rural constituencies only for effective implementation of developmental projects in rural districts.
Dr. Simutanyi charged that many rural constituencies in the country have been under developed because they are too vast for one Member of Parliaments (MP) to handle compared to those in urban areas.
He was reacting to proposals by the National Constitution making Conference (NCC)’s legislative committee that seats for Members of Parliament should be increased from the current 150 to 250 of which 200 must be elected, 40 from interest groups and 10 should be nominated.
Dr. Simutanyi told ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka today, people in rural areas need more representation, adding that they face different problems that would need the attention of their area MPs.
He explained that the role of MPs is to effectively represent the electorates and bring development to their constituencies and consequently develop the whole nation therefore increasing parliamentary seats should only apply to rural areas.
Dr. Simutanyi added that government and other political parties in the country should ensure that their elected law makers deliver to the public by establishing close working relationship with people who voted for them.
He noted that it is for this reason that government during the 2011 general elections should consider reducing the number of urban MPs where as those of rural should be increased.
Dr. Simutanyi, who is also a political analyst, has observed that urban constituencies despite been developed has continued to have a large number of MPs.
He cited Lusaka and Copperbelt as some of the provinces which should have the number of parliamentarians reduced.
He further urged MPs to ensure that during parliamentary debates they concentrate more on issues that affect their constituencies and deliver on the promises they made during campaigns.
ZANIS/MM/AM/ENDS.
Labels: CPD, DR NEO SIMUTANYI, MPs, NCC, PARLIAMENT
posted by MrK @ 12:54 PM
1 Comments:
I wish to make the following observations:
1) Members of Parliament should not be involved in the implementation of development projects; this should be the function of government ministries and local authorities. Besides, the provinces are already saturated with such portfolios as District Commissioners, Provincial Ministers and Provincial Permanent Secretaries, all of which are supposed to complement the executive branch of the government in the implementation of development projects. We need to restrict the role of Parliament to legislative functions -- that is, law-making.
2) The National Constitutional Conference (NCC) legislative committee’s proposal to increase seats for Members of Parliament to 250 makes very sad reading, especially that it is coming at a time when tens of thousands of Grade 7 and Grade 9 students have continued to be spilled onto the streets every year, the healthcare system cannot meet the basic needs of the majority of citizens, the majority of Zambians have no access to clean water and electricity, a critical shortage of decent public housing has compelled so many of our fellow citizens to live in shanty townships nationwide, public infrastructure and services are still deficient, civil servants are still not adequately compensated for their services, crime and unemployment are still widespread, and, among many other socio-economic ills, taxes and interest rates are still high.
3) Zambia cannot afford to implement such a suggestion; there is really no wisdom in seeking to increase the number of constituencies when some of the existing constituencies cannot even generate enough tax revenue to meet the cost of maintaining their MPs.
4) Rather than increase the number of MPs, we should actually be considering the prospect of reducing the number and, to reiterate, restricting their functions to legislative matters. Parliament would still be representative and able to function effectively as the legislative organ of our national government with only 72 elected MPs, for example -- so that 1 MP could be elected from each of the existing 72 districts. Also, the Republican president does not really need to nominate 8 people to the National Assembly. Why not 5 or less? And does the Republican president really need to nominate anybody to Parliament?
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