The Speaker and the workshop facilitators of the workshop from the CPA U.K. Branch, held on 22-23 June. From left: Lord Bruce Grocott, Hon. Roger Gale, Mr Speaker Herminie, Mr David Natzler and Mr Andrew Walker.
accomplished in a short period of time- a complete revision of the Standing Orders, revision of the Privileges and Immunities Act and the development of the Administration of the National Assembly Act- all legislative prereq- uisites to render the institution strong thus enabling it to better ful- fil its oversight function.The revi- sions of these founding and elemen- tary documents have given the National Assembly the opportunity to relook at itself and identify areas where improvements and changes can and must be made. While the revision of the afore- mentioned legislation was an essen- tial part of the project, the capacity building of the Members of the National Assembly remained the primary objective.This has been undertaken by different means- training programmes, workshops and exchange visits. Select members of the National Assembly have benefit-
ted from exchange visits to the Parliaments of three different coun- tries (China, Mauritius and Namibia), where they had the opportunity to discuss pertinent issues as well as observe the pro- ceedings of each Parliament. In May 2008, the National
Assembly, after an absence of almost a decade, finally regained member- ship to the CPA.Within a month of regaining membership, upon the request of the National Assembly, the CPA UK Branch in collabora- tion with the British High Commission in Seychelles organized a workshop for its Members. The workshop ran over a period
of two days, and engaged the Members in discussion of issues such as the separation of powers, keeping order and fostering deco- rum, standards and ethics for Parliamentarians and freedom of speech and the right of reply. Although ours is a presidential
320 The Parliamentarian 2008/Issue Four
government system, it must be pointed out that the proceedings and practices followed by the National Assembly are very similar to that of the Westminster parlia- mentary system.To that end, the workshop held in June provided a forum of lively debate, especially for the many new and younger Members.
Raising awareness and interest in the National Assembly One of the most significant chal- lenges faced by Parliaments around the world today, especially in the age of information and communica- tions technology, is encouraging interest in what Parliaments do. The National Assembly of
Seychelles has not been spared that challenge. It is unfortunate to say, that the interest of the Seychellois public in what the National Assembly do is strictly limited to the political play in the chamber.