Parliament ready for the year

The fifth session of the seventh parliament opens tomorrow in Windhoek.

Parliament spokesperson David Nahongandja told Desert Radio earlier on Monday that the proceedings will not be a traditional ceremony.

“The pandemic has forced (us) to change the way we do things and parliament is no exception.

We have adopted procedural changes that we used since we resumed in May 2020,” he said.

He said said the opening of parliament brings the main organs of the state together, including the executive, led by the president, the parliament, led by the speaker, and the judiciary, by the chief justice and the deputy chief justice. “This requires a lot of preparations in terms of activities that accompany this event,” he said.

He said last year, a few limitations were put on activities such as the military processions (21 gun salute) and cultural dances. In addition, there are no invited guests or visitors and urged the public to follow proceedings online.

Parliamentarians and commentators argued that bills that could have passed last year were not due to the disruption of Covid-19.

Nahongandja admitted that the third Covid-19 wave disrupted a lot debates and bills being passed.

“An indication we received from the justice ministry was that there were 12 bills that could have made their way to parliament but four of the bills lapsed due to the issue around delta,” he said.

He said those first four that lapsed are the first on parliament’s list this year because they were already drafted.

CHANGES

“Last year in June, the National Assembly shared draft rules on visual meetings which are the rules that will allow parliament meetings to be virtual. Memebrs of the public have been telling us to embrace the technology. The technology is there, but what is not there is the rules that formalise and legalise these virtual activists to take place,” he said.

Nahongandja said in the next two weeks, the National Assembly will be ready to table these draft rules for virtual parliament meetings.

If it is adopted, he said the National Assembly will start holding meetings virtually. The effectiveness of this is determined by how strong the digital footprint in the country is.

Style of debate

Over the past couple of years, parliament has received criticism for debating motions and bills in a non-traditional fashion.

“In terms of the debates you would really agree that it is not new to parliament. We have young people coming in with new ways of doing things which gives parliament some kind of shift from it’s laid back image we are used to,” Nahongandja said.

He also said that “changes come and by virtue rules should be as dynamic as possible for the process (debates) to take place. The rules also allow members to have their voice heard,” he said.

Landless People’s Movement (LPM) parliamentarian, Henny Seibeb, speaking to Desert Radio, said parliament is supposed to be a debating house and “it gets very tough sometimes,”

Comparing the Namibian parliament to other parliaments, Seibed added; “Physical fights ensue in other parts of the world. […] Ours (LPM) is to respond with intellectual vigour,” he said. He said those in politics should grow  thick skin.