Democracy Report Issue No
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DEMOCRACY REPORT Issue No. 5 2011 A Civil Society Perspective On Parliament STILL NOT SPEAKING OUT An assessment of MPs’ performance indicates that quite a number do not make full use of their seats in Parliament for the benefit of society, rather choosing to be silent and anonymous, which raises questions as to their fitness to be in the legislature t has long been a criticism of Parliament and individ- released an assessment report of the performance of MPs participated in ordinary debate. The aggregate ual politicians occupying seats there that they have MPs over a two-year period – September 2005 to Octo- number of lines from speeches, questions, replies and Ibecome inactive, ineffectual and even removed from ber 2007 – which indicated that during that time a num- contributions to motion debates determines the ranking the general populace. ber of MPs had hardly uttered a word in the National of an individual MP. As evidence, critics have pointed to the number of Assembly. Topping the list of best performers – when consider- bills tabled and laws passed, and even the quality of The title of the IPPR report – ‘Not speaking out’ – ing the number of lines in Hansard for the three-month debates, in any parliamentary cycle to illustrate that the appropriately captured the worrying fact that quite a period from February to April 2011 – is Swapo Party MP Namibian Parliament has fallen into some sort of legis- number of MPs could not be bothered to take part in the and Minister of Environment and Tourism, Netumbo lative slumber. important debates which shape the legislative frame- Nandi-Ndaitwah. Nandi-Ndaitwah has a total of 729 It is not easy to measure the dynamics of parliamen- work within which society functions. In some cases, lines in Hansard over the three-month period. During tary processes, but one indicator which can be used to even if they did take part, their contributions were few this period the passage of the Appropriation Bill determine to what extent individual Members of Parlia- and far between and brief. (national budget) dominated debate in the National ment (MPs) are active and engaged in parliamentary, Sadly, this situation does not appear to have Assembly. specifically National Assembly, processes is to look at changed much in the intervening two years since that She is followed by Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister MPs’ contributions to debates and motions. report was released, as it seems that some MPs in the Peya Mushelenga and Education Minister Abraham These contributions are captured in the Hansards – fifth Parliament have inherited the same attitude of dis- Iyambo. Mushelenga had 630 lines and Iyambo 591 the official record of parliamentary proceedings. engagement displayed by members of the fourth Parlia- lines. But first-off, the National Assembly of the Republic ment, if an assessment of MPs’ performance for the As for the opposition parties, only two opposition of Namibia is empowered by the Constitution of the first few months of this year is anything to go by. MPs made it into the top 10 of most active MPs, namely country to introduce and enact laws in the interest of Jesaya Nyamu, Secretary General of the Rally for the state and citizens. The best performers Democracy and Progress (RDP) This power is conferred through Article 63 of the However, this does not mean at number four and Swanu Presi- Namibian Constitution, which states: that there were no good per- dent Usutuaije Maamberua at (1) The National Assembly, as the principal legisla- formers, for while many MPs number ten. Nyamu had 528 lines tive authority in and over Namibia, shall have the power, were silent and or mostly anony- and Maamberua 467 lines. subject to this Constitution, to make and repeal laws for mous in the National Assembly, Considering this it could prob- the peace, order and good government of the country in some amongst them were quite ably be concluded that most the best interest of the people of Namibia. active. opposition MPs do not take their In the process of law-making and other parliamen- Seventy-six (76) of the role in Parliament as seriously as tary functions, MPs are expected to make contributions National Assembly’s 78 mem- they should, given that theirs is a to enrich debates before the House and by so doing bers (excluding the Speaker and role of providing alternative argu- pass responsive laws. It is incumbent upon MPs to thor- the Deputy Speaker) were ments within the framework of oughly debate bills to avoid unnecessary and costly assessed in terms of their over- parliamentary discourse and to constitutional challenges to pieces of legislation passed all contribution in the form of be a bell-ringer in the face of over- by Parliament. speeches, questions, replies whelming superiority in numbers In this context of the National Assembly being the and motions. Ministerial state- that the ruling Swapo Party can “principal legislative authority”, back in September ments were not counted in order muster in any debate and vote. 2009 the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) to be able to gauge how much Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah continued on page 2 Democracy Report is a regular publication featuring analysis and commentary relating to the legislative agenda of the Parliament of the Republic of Namibia. It is produced by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), PO Box 6566, Windhoek, Namibia. Tel: +264 61 240514, Fax: +264 61 240516, [email protected]. The publication is also available as a PDF download from http://www.ippr.org.na. Democracy Report is funded by the Embassy of Finland. Democracy Report Issue No. 5 2011 continued from page 1 Most number of lines in Hansard (February – April 2011): lature. If MPs do not contribute to key debates around crucial issues affecting society, then their representation has little meaning. MP Party No. of lines 1. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah Swapo 729 Least number of lines in Hansard (February – April 2011): 2. Peya Mushelenga Swapo 630 MP Party No. of lines 3. Abraham Iyambo Swapo 591 1. Uahekua Herunga Swapo 0 4. Jesaya Nyamu RDP 528 2. Piet van der Walt Swapo 0 5. Joel Kaapanda Swapo 515 3. Agnes Tjongarero Swapo 0 6. Nahas Angula Swapo 509 4. Simson Tjongarero UDF 0 7. Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila Swapo 502 5. Heiko Lucks RDP 0 8. Kazenambo Kazenambo Swapo 494 6. Marco Hausiku Swapo 0 9. Nickey Iyambo Swapo 485 7. Evelyn !Nawases-Taeyele Swapo 0 10. Usutuaije Maamberua Swanu 467 8. Hidipo Hamutenya RDP 1 9. Hage Geingob Swapo 7 The worst performers As with the best performers, it should be kept in mind that the discussed perfor- 10. Bernhardt Esau Swapo 14 mance reflects only the three months from February to April this year and does not reflect individual performances before and after this period. That said, the bottom ten on the ranking by lines in Hansard is also dominated by the ruling party, with seven of the worst performers being Swapo Party MPs. How it was done Seven out of the bottom ten also did not record a single line in Hansard during the period under discussion. Rounding out the bottom ten is Uahekua Herunga, Piet van Judging the quality of MPs’ contributions in the National Assembly der Walt, Agnes Tjongarero, all three of the Swapo Party, and Simson Tjongarero of is beyond the scope of the assessment, hence the focus solely on the United Democratic Front (UDF). All four, along with the RDP’s Heiko Lucks and the number of lines individual MPs had contributed to the official Swapo’s Marco Hausiku and Evelyn !Nawases-Taeyele recorded no lines in Hansard. Most notably, the President of the official opposition, Hidipo Hamutenya of the record of parliamentary proceedings, the Hansard. Three volumes RDP, also features amongst the worst performers, coming in at eighth worst with only of Hansard, covering a period from early February to mid April 2011, one line recorded in Hansard over the three-month period. For an opposition leader have been reviewed for the purposes of this report. Ideally, the IPPR being proactive and involved should be the hallmarks of conduct. Hamutenya’s appar- wanted to review the first two sessions of the National Assembly’s ent lack of involvement and engagement is not a good thing for either his party or proceedings, but the unavailability of Hansard restricted the opposition politics in the country, as well as not being in the national interest, as review to the aforementioned period. Ministerial statements were dynamic opposition leaders and parties contribute to the fostering and maintenance stripped out of the counting, while statements introducing motions of a vibrant political culture. On a point of comparison, between them the bottom ten only recorded 22 lines in were given a value of 1, in order to gain a sense of how much MPs Hansard, while each of the top ten averaged well over 450 lines each. The difference contributed to general debate. in activeness is stark and raises questions about some MP’s fitness to be in the legis- About the IPPR PERFORMANCE OF The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) was launched in 2001 as a not for profit organisation NON-ELECTED MEMBERS with a mission to deliver independent, analytical, critical yet constructive he six (6) non-voting members are research on social, political and eco- Tappointed by the President in terms of Performance of non-elected MPs: nomic issues that affect development Article 32 (5) (c) of the Namibian Constitution in Namibia. The IPPR was established which states that “the President shall have MP Overall position No. of lines in the belief that development is best the power to: appoint as members of the promoted through free and critical National Assembly but without any vote debate informed by quality research.