#DutiesOFareaREPs
“The first duty of a member of Parliament is to do what he or she thinks in his or her faithful and disinterested judgement is right and necessary for the honour and safety of Great Britain. His second duty is to his constituents, of whom he is the representative but not the delegate. … It is only in the third place that his duty to party organization or programme takes rank. All these three loyalties should be observed, but there is no doubt of the order in which they stand under any healthy manifestation of democracy.“
— Winston Churchill, Duties of a Member of Parliament (c.1954–1955)
Whether one likes or dislikes Churchill as a historical figure, it is hard to find fault with this quote regarding the duties of MPs, who for us in Belize are commonly referred to as “Area Representatives” (APs). For our purposes here, let’s call this the ‘Churchillian Hierarchy of APs’ Duties’.
Interestingly, however, despite all the attention and fanfare we give these APs, have we realized that the rubric we use to grade these APs is a bit inaccurate? Let me explain what I mean.
Section 89(2) of the Constitution says: “Each electoral division shall be represented in the House of Representatives by one elected member”. Good. We know this. We also know what the House of Representatives is, correct?
Section 55 of the Constitution establishes the LEGISLATURE, which is comprised of two Houses: The House of Representatives and the Senate. Then, in section 68 of the Constitution, this Legislature is given law-making powers for “the peace, order and good government of BELIZE”. Notice it didn’t say “of the particular Electoral Division that the AP represents”.
As a result, we may take some liberties and rewrite Churchill’s quote above thus: “The first duty of an Area Representative is to do what he or she thinks in his or her faithful and disinterested judgment is right and necessary for the peace, order and good government of BELIZE”.
In the United Kingdom (UK), when explaining the role of MPs (or as we say, APs), an official source explains: “MPs’ duties in Parliament include participating in debates and voting on legislation and other matters.”
In terms of their duties to constituencies, that same source says: “MPs can help their constituents by advising on problems (particularly those that arise from the work of government departments), representing the concerns of their constituents in Parliament and acting as a figurehead for the local area.”
Paved Streets, Piece of Land, Paying Utility Bills, Rent, and Other Promises?
So, based on both Belize’s Constitution and examples from the Parliamentary system’s motherland (see also Link 3, p. 10), the chief responsibility of the APs is to function in the Law-making body of the country (the Legislature) by supporting and/or proposing laws that is to the benefit of the nation state of Belize. As far as individual constituencies go, it is not necessarily to ‘pave streets’, or promise individuals land, pay their utility bills/rent, or to provide yard filling to “supportive” households. These things, if left unchecked, instead engenders the scourge of clientelism.
Actually, such promises—if they’re NOT presented as an across-the-board constituency development policy—may very well be inching those APs closer to what section 32 of the Representation of the People’s Act (ROPA) defines as “bribery”—a crime.
In the UK House of Common’s Handbook (Link 3, p. 10), it is largely summarized this way: “Members have a general duty to act in the interests of the nation as a whole; and a special duty to their constituents.” That special duty is largely “spokesman-like” and advisory in nature. The AP may either advocate via direct communication with ministers of government (e.g. Minister of Works for paving of public roads) or via his contributions in Parliament. (See similar explanation for APs in Australia HERE).
Local Government
This brings me to the whole matter of expecting APs to do things like pave streets, and fix bus sheds, and the like.
If it is the APs’ job to repair streets and the like, then what’s the purpose of section 24 of the Belize City Council Act, the Belmopan City Council Act, and the Town Council Act that empowers those municipal bodies to do exactly that and more?
Those Acts read as follows:
24.–(1) All streets, in which term is included public drains and bridges
within the boundaries of the [municipality in question], shall be under the control, care and management of the Council.
(2) The Council is empowered in respect of any street to do any of
the following things,
(a) to lay out, construct, repair, alter or widen all streets
with such material and in such manner as the Council
thinks fit;
Outside of that, then it’s likely the Ministry of Works that the AP may have to lobby on behalf of his constituency. However, as we’ve seen repeatedly play out in Parliament over the years, the success of such pleadings depend on the level of magnanimity of the incumbent government, and more precisely the ‘will’ of Cabinet.
Raising the Bar of Expectations
In the end, the point being made here is that we need to make sure that we raise the bar of expectation on these APs in accordance with their PRINCIPAL and actual job: That is to make laws for “the peace, order and good government of BELIZE”. Answer me this simple question: if you’re hiring someone to your Legislature, shouldn’t you be talking to him or her about their stances on various laws and public policies?
The fact of the matter is this: You cannot logically hire thirty-one (31) people to your Legislature—the Law-making body of your nation—without knowing how they intend to vote on various big-ticket issues? What laws do these potential Area Representative support?
For example, what will be their voting pattern on the likes of the Equal Opportunities Bill? When it came to the Territorial Dispute, did anyone know where their APs stood before they were elected to Parliament? Basically, what is their law-making agenda? What laws do they plan to support to improve access to education, social protection, healthcare, or even employment opportunities?
That’s what our grading rubric for APs should chiefly reflect. Paved streets and cleaned parks are for your City or Town Council.
Does it even matter?
However, with all that said, here’s something even more troubling: with Crossing-the-Floor (anti-defection) laws being what they are, does it even matter what laws your AP thinks or believes or supports?
Remember that ‘Churchillian’ hierarchy of duties? The one that came last was the APs’ duty to their party. However, with anti-defection laws in place that do not separate between defection and mere dissent, in Belize, the hierarchy of duties has been completely reversed. Your so-called AP (especially if he’s a member of Cabinet) could be ‘fired’ from the job you hired him to do if he votes against his party without permission. And there you were thinking that they actually represented you, right?
So, maybe we should start calling these so-called Area Representatives what they “truly” are: Party Representatives. That is, until we amend the anti-defection law that frees up all APs to vote their conscience and not their Party line.
Link 1: https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/commons-information-office/fymp/yaympenglish.pdf
Link 3: https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/foi/members-handbook.pdf
Res Publica360 