SMALL PARLIAMENTS: BERMUDA
SMALL PARLIAMENTS - BIG CHALLENGES
Small Parliaments face a vast number of challenges from their larger counterparts. From limited office resources to an insufficient number of Members to staff and administer Joint Select Committees, the Speaker of the House of Assembly of Bermuda outlines the challenges, and his recommendations for helping to overcome them.
Hon. K.H. Randolph Horton, JP, MP Mr Horton is the Speaker of the Bermuda Legislative Assembly. He was first elected in 1998, and has since served as both Minister of Labour and of Education. He was elected Deputy Speaker in 2011, before being appointed Speaker in February 2013. This article is based on the speech given at the Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers that took place in Wellington, New Zealand in January 2014.
limited democracy given its status as a U.K. Overseas Territory with power over internal affairs in accordance with provisions of the Bermuda Constitution Order 1968. Defence and external affairs are vested in the United Kingdom Government and exercised by a Governor appointed by Her Majesty the Queen. Bermuda’s small size leads to
Hon. Randolph Horton, MP
Bermuda is a small island state with 65,000 inhabitants, approximately 38,000 eligible voters within 21 square miles. Its Parliament is the oldest in the Commonwealth outside the British Isles and dates back to 1 August, 1620 when the Governor at the time, Nathaniel Turner, summoned a General Assembly to convene at St. Peter’s Church in the Town of St. George, Bermuda’s first capital and now a World Heritage site. These structures have provided for a stable political structure throughout our history. The singular fact that separates Bermuda from many jurisdictions is that it is a
32 | The Parliamentarian | 2014: Issue One
a number of unique features in its Legislature. First, the Cabinet or Executive Branch has tremendous control over the Legislature since up to one third of the 36 Members of the Legislature can be appointed Cabinet Ministers. Second, the governing party, now the One Bermuda Alliance, is in a structured minority position in the 11-Member Upper House, the Senate, where five Senators are appointed by the Premier, three by the Leader of the Opposition and three Independent Senators appointed by His Excellency the Governor. In many other respects, though, Bermuda is a microcosm of the Westminster-style government with all the challenges of this modern era. And yes, as Speaker I can state without reservations that whilst debate can reach the
lofty heights of Westminster, it can also compete with Westminster on occasion in terms of feistiness.
Achieving stable government According to John K. Johnson, writing for the World Bank in 2005, scholars tend to agree that there are three functions common to Parliaments in democracies:
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72