The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Deputy Chief Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

IN keeping with its campaign promise to wipe out malfeasance in government and increase transparency, the Free National Movement administration pledged yesterday to create and enforce anti-corruption legislation for parliamentarians and public officers.

Legislation was also promised to amend the Public Disclosure Act to include a campaign finance component and allow for a matter to be referred to an independent prosecutor.

The new administration also promised yesterday to give the Office of the Auditor General more autonomy.

For several months ahead of his party’s crushing defeat of the then governing Progressive Liberal Party, stamping out acts of corruption was a common theme upon which now Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis capitalised.

The government recommitted itself to achieving this objective, as it was one of many goals detailed in the Speech from the Throne yesterday – delivered by Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling in Rawson Square.

The auspicious event, brimming with pomp and pageantry was filled with scores of elegantly dressed Bahamians who gathered to listen to the Minnis administration’s “ambitious” five-year plan.

“When we look around the world, we easily come to appreciate how fortunate we are, and what a privilege it is to be a citizen of The Bahamas,” Dame Marguerite said.

“The members of our new Parliament surely recognise what a privilege it is to serve, in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, some of the most favoured people, lands and seas to be found anywhere on God’s earth.

“We owe it to ourselves and we owe it to our God, to focus first, foremost and forever, on restoring those values that our forefathers espoused at the founding of our nation 44 years ago.

“My government is convinced that our transgressions in governance, our levels of crime, our levels of unemployment, our unhealthy lifestyles, our levels of social injustice and our seeming worship of power over principles, will never abate until and unless we begin to restore those Bahamian values that we cherished and embraced not so long ago,” Dame Marguerite continued.

“My government will ensure that its ministers are held to the highest standards of constitutional and personal conduct. Consequently, my government will enact and enforce anti-corruption legislation for all parliamentarians and public officers.

“My government is proud of the capabilities of the team that you have entrusted with your mandate. As has been noted publicly already, we will ensure that all members of Parliament and all of the senior members of the public service are familiar with all of the practices, principles and tools of good governance as we get to work on your behalf.”

The Minnis administration also pledged to enact legislation to establish the Office of an Independent Director of Public Prosecutions.

“In support of this endeavour, certain functions now performed by the attorney general, such as the power to issue a fiat authorising the commencement of legal actions in sensitive matters or a nolle prosequi, will be transferred to the director of public prosecutions,” Dame Marguerite said, reading from the Speech from The Throne.

“My government will put forward legislation to establish and strengthen the independence of the Office of the Auditor General, allowing it to function properly and without government imposed constraints on its finances.

“My government will amend the Public Disclosure Act to broaden the scope of application to include campaign finance reform and to make provision for direct referral to an independent prosecutor.”

Before the speech, Parliament officially opened with several procedures to signify the new parliamentary term.

At 9.50am, the new members of Parliament and their spouses began taking their seats in the House of Assembly.

When the session began, Acting Parliamentary Commissioner Charles Albury approached the bar of the House and presented Chief House Clerk Maurice Tynes with the writs and returns of the general election and with a certified list of the members elect.

This was followed by the reading of the names of the members who won their respective constituencies. However, when Mr Tynes read Golden Isles, he announced that Democratic National Alliance (DNA) hopeful Stephen Greenslade was the member elect for the area.

Mr Tynes later said that this was an error, as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development Vaughn Miller, is the constituency’s MP.

Mr Albury was asked to correct the error for the record.

Following this, members were asked to nominate and elect a new speaker.

Deputy Prime Minister K Peter Turnquest nominated Nassau Village MP D Halson Moultrie for the post and Immigration Minister Brent Symonette seconded the motion to elect. Mr Moultrie then took the oath of allegiance and the oath of qualification.

After a brief break in the proceedings to allow Mr Moultrie to dress in the speaker’s regalia, he returned to greet the House in his official capacity as House speaker.

He said it was his aim to ensure that a level of decorum was maintained during proceedings and also that a separation of powers is kept.

Mr Moultrie said he would not allow debates to descend into chaos. Tall Pines MP Don Saunders was also elected as the deputy speaker of the House.

Mr Moultrie’s remarks were followed by all members, with the exception of six, swearing on the Bible as they took their oaths.

Pineridge MP Frederick McAlpine, MICAL MP Miriam Emmanuel, Seabreeze MP Lanisha Rolle, Ft Charlotte MP Mark Humes, Bamboo Town MP Renward Wells and Pinewood MP Reuben Rahming opted to “affirm” the oaths rather than swear.

The Senate also met yesterday for the start of the new parliamentary session. Kay Forbes-Smith was sworn in as Senate president while Mildred Hall-Watson was sworn in as vice-president.