Leader of the Opposition Honourable Ronnie W. Skelton (AL) has led the call for the proceedings of Committee Stage of the House of Assembly to be be made public. Photo: Facebook

Eighth District Representative Hon Marlon A. Penn said the Opposition is recommending that the proceedings of the Public Accounts Committee be made public. Photo: Facebook

Sixth District Representative Hon Myron V. Walwyn said making the Committee Stage of the House of Assembly public will help to educate the public on legislation affecting them. Photo: Facebook

These were among the sentiments expressed during a press conference on January 17, 2025, by Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Ronnie W. Skelton (Al), along with Eighth District Representative Hon Marlon A. Penn and Hon Myron V. Walwyn (R6), who each expressed their support for the proposal to make the committee proceedings open to the public.

‘It will see the Opposition in its true form’

Responding to questions about his stance on the proposal and its potential impact on public perception of the Opposition, the Opposition Leader said, "I support the public viewing of the committee stage. They have to put structure to it before that can happen, and you see it in many parliaments around the globe. So, I don't have an objection to a structure, and it might bring a level of decorum, a level of responsibility to the committee stage of the proceedings."

Questioned on how the move might shape public perception of the Opposition, Hon Skelton surmised, "I think it will see the Opposition in its true form where the contributions that the Opposition makes to all of these bills (are evident). I think it will be good for the Opposition, and it will probably make the government bring bills with not so many... difficult issues that make people anxious. The anxiety of the people increases (when such issues arise), but they will do their work properly."

Public needs to have an ‘insight’- Hon Penn

Meanwhile, Hon Penn shared similar sentiments, particularly on the importance of public insight into legislative processes. Hon Penn remarked: "I just wanted to support a point made by my Honourable colleague because it's a point of view that I share.”

According to Hon Penn, “I think many of us have said on the campaign trail that those committee proceedings should be public; Particularly, the public needs to have an insight in terms of the process, how the process works, and what we're doing on their behalf."

Hon Penn specifically highlighted the need for public scrutiny of the Public Accounts Committee, explaining, that “We actually have a document that was developed to come to the House, and I think the Opposition will decide when that happens, where we recommend that the proceedings of the Public Accounts Committee should be public; So the public could get a sense of what happens within these committees, and how many of these decisions or projects or initiatives went awry, and the work that we're doing to ensure that we have accountability for the spending of public resources."

We not ‘educating the people enough’- Hon Walwyn

Meanwhile, the Sixth District Representative, Hon Walwyn, also supported the move to make committee proceedings public. He stressed the importance of addressing foundational issues in legislative preparation.

"I think one of the failings that we've had as a House of Assembly, and not just this House of Assembly, is not educating the people enough on the matters that are being dealt with on their behalf; Certainly, if the committees are made public, then that helps with the education process."

He did, however, identify what he termed, systemic problems with the drafting and review of legislation, citing recent bills passed in the HoA as examples.

"Those two last bills that came to the House, I mentioned them in my discussions—the Police Act and the Cybercrime Act—those should not have come to Cabinet, should not have come to the House of Assembly in the state that they were in; They were woefully insufficient. They were matters that dealt with human rights, people's fundamental rights and freedoms, with no consideration at all for the balance between supporting law enforcement and protecting fundamental rights."