ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada– Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell says elected members of Parliament should be given allocations from the state to allow them to be able to serve their constituents better.
“This system that we have where members of Parliament…are given no resources whatsoever to address the concerns of their constituents is not going to lead to effective representation in Grenada,” Mitchell told Parliament.
“We are going to become 50 years old in short order, so the idea that you run up and down your constituency ask people to vote for you, they vote for you, you become an MP, and then you have no resources to do anything cannot be permitted to continue,” he said, calling on all legislators in the 15-member Parliament to support the initiative.
“So, I am happy to invite my friends on the other side because now is the time that they have the opportunity to change it …I am happy to invite them to come along with us; we can perhaps start with the Committee stages, to be honest with our people and say to them that as an MP I do not have any state resources to help you,” Said Mitchell, a first-time legislator. He led the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to victory in the June 23 general election.
He explained that becoming elected to Parliament is not a guarantee of serving in the Cabinet, adding that those who become cabinet members are tasked with running a ministry and not a constituency.
“We need to start by addressing parliamentarians who must be given some resources, they must be held accountable, and then you will know if you have real representation or not, because if my friend from St George’s South East and I are given the same budget, and he is working miracles in the southeast, and I am not working miracles in St David then the people of St David will have a comparison to see what true representation is all about.”
Prime Minister Mitchell said that the former New National Party (NNP) administration, which had won all the seats in the previous general election, led to confusion and frustration because the separation of Parliament and government work was not demarcated.
“I never hope again we don’t confuse the role of Parliament with the role of government because unlike some of my colleagues, I am yet to have a parliamentary office to serve the people of St David, and part of that reason is that we confuse the role of Government with the role of Parliament intentionally,” he said.
“We need to respect the office of MPs and distinct it from central government so that we don’t ever get to a situation when there is a change in government and MP does not have an office to serve him. If we are going to strengthen democracy, parliament and parliamentary democracy and MP offices they need to be given the respect that they are due so that MPs can properly serve the constituents who have elected them,” Prime Minister Mitchell added.
Members of Parliament whose salaries are EC$1,200 per month (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents) for more than two decades began receiving EC$1 500 each for the administration of their offices following the 1999 general election.
In 2013, legislators were allocated funds to rent an office and hired a driver, an office attendant, a cleaner, a research officer, and an office manager.
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