Unworkable

EXCHANGES between the Government and the Opposition during Prime Minister’s Questions in Parliament on Wednesday demonstrated the high degree of interest in the proceedings of the Road Map to Recovery team which has been mandated by Cabinet to come up with a policy paper on the way forward in a post-covid19 world.

The heated debate between Dr Rowley and Caroni Central MP Dr Bhoendradatt Tewarie over whether an economic working paper received by the team should be tabled should serve as a reminder to all that there must be the fullest degree of transparency, accountability and responsiveness to feedback during this process of envisioning our future. As all sides must know, constituents are anxious about what might be next and are eager to have their voices heard.

That said, Rowley is correct in his assessment that not every single paper seen by the committee needs to be tabled in Parliament at this stage. Not only would such a move be premature, it would also be unworkable. We can’t start a debate before what we are debating is even finished.

And though there is some merit in Tewarie’s contention on Wednesday that Parliament could be useful as a space in which to test assumptions being presented to the committee, it would be far more efficient to wait and see what ideas move forward first before we waste scare time and resources. The real debate is ahead.

Additionally, there is no reason why the Cabinet committee, whenever its findings are published, cannot include all pertinent reference material in its appendices. In fact, such a practice is routinely adopted by parliamentary committees that produce reports for the scrutiny of the House.

No, the real issue here is the need for greater clarity as to the workings of this committee.

We have had little that could give us a deeper insight into how the committee’s mandate has been structured or divided; the methods by which it has or will engage in consultation; the means by which it comes to decisions (there are 22 members and getting the input of each member alone must be a big challenge). But given the Herculean task that it has before it, this could be because the team is doing what it has been asked to do: work.

Bearing in mind the seriousness of the issues that brought about its creation in the first place, the Government should do everything to ensure nothing impedes the committee’s work and the committee must itself be grounded in the principles of accountability and transparency. But those principles must not be taken to the extreme.

It is worth noting that the team’s report, whenever produced, should be regarded as a starting point, not set in stone. It should act as a foundation upon which the Cabinet, the Parliament, and the people can build.