Opening Remarks CPA Post-Election Seminar for the Legislative Assembly of

The Cayman Islands 3-4 August 2017

Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Secretary-General

Mr Akbar Khan

 Honourable Dr. William McKeeva Bush, OBE, MLA, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the Cayman Islands

 Honourable Members of Parliament  Mrs Zena Merren-Chin, Clerk to the Legislative Assembly and CPA

Branch Secretary  Honourable K. H. Randolph Horton, until recently the Speaker of the

Parliament of Bermuda  Honourable Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George MP from the Parliament of

Trinidad and Tobago  Mrs Heather Cook, Clerk to the Houses of Parliament in Jamaica and CPA

Regional Secretary for the Caribbean, Americas and Atlantic Region.  Distinguished guests

 Ladies and Gentlemen

Good Morning, It is a great pleasure to be here in the Cayman Islands for this CPA Post-Election Seminar.

As the Secretary-General of the CPA, I have had the honour and privilege of visiting many CPA Branches around the Commonwealth and meeting many Members of our CPA family. For me, there is something special about coming back to the Caribbean, Atlantic and Americas Region.

The warmth of the sun, the generosity of spirit and the vibrancy of these islands take me back to my roots in Guyana, where I was born and spent much of my childhood.

These Caribbean qualities remind me of the bond, the shared values and culture that exist in this beautiful part of the world.

I would like to join the Hon. Speaker McKeeva Bush in welcoming you to this Post- Election Seminar and to thank him, and also Zena Merrin-Chin, Clerk to the Legislature, for their generous hospitality shown towards me and the CPA’s distinguished resource team, who have travelled from around this region to share their knowledge and their experience acquired during their own parliamentary careers.

Honourable Members,

The CPA is one of the oldest members of the Commonwealth family – dating back to 1911. As the recognised parliamentary arm of the Commonwealth, we exist to advance parliamentary democracy by enhancing the knowledge and understanding of democratic governance, and to build an informed parliamentary community that is able to deepen the Commonwealth’s commitment and further cooperation among parliaments and legislatures.

Over the past 20 years, the CPA has delivered in excess of 58 Post-Election Seminars across the Commonwealth – the aim of which is to facilitate parliamentarians, new and returning, to gain a broader understanding of the principles of parliamentary democracy and to enhance their skills.

This House is well acquainted with the CPA Post-Election Seminar and some of you may recall that in 2013, the CPA delivered a Post-Election Seminar following your elections – you have the good fortune of welcoming back Mrs Heather Cooke, Clerk of the Jamaica Parliament who is returning once again to share her considerable experience and expertise with you.

Honourable Members

I would like to congratulate Cayman Islands for holding an election that was commended by the Election Observer Mission of the CPA British Isles and Mediterranean Region as having ‘amply met the international standards for democratic, genuine and transparent elections and the results truly reflect the will of the people’.

Your recent election has demonstrated your commitment to the shared values of the Commonwealth and the Commonwealth Charter from which I quote: “We recognise the inalienable right of individuals to participate in democratic processes, in particular free and fair elections in shaping the society in which they live.”

Although the election campaign is now over, this is not the end of the road. Your election to this House signifies the beginning of your parliamentary careers and service to the people of these Islands.

Not only were the elections here celebrated as free and fair, but you increased the number of elected representatives to this House from 18 to 19 and witnessed an increase of people registered to vote from 18,492 in 2013, to 21,227 in 2017.

As a well-known Election observer, Dame Audrey Glover, once observed ‘Elections cannot of themselves bring about democracy, but it is not possible to have democracy without elections. They enable people to express their preference for those they would like to govern them and thus bring security and stability. Furthermore, elections are a celebration of human rights because they embrace the right to association and assembly, freedom of the media, freedom of expression and the right to vote.’

The increased turnout at the election clearly demonstrates the commitment of the Cayman Islands to nurturing the democratic values and standards upon which the Commonwealth is founded.

Representative government started in the Cayman Islands 186 years ago – representative democracy is not a new concept here. But our Commonwealth experience tells us is that securing democracy is a continuous exercise that requires constant nurturing.

At the heart of any functioning democracy must lie an effective parliament. In fact, it is difficult to conceive what kind of effective democracy can exist without an effective parliament.

Honourable Members,

The true measure and success of a democratic society is not confined simply to the organisation of elections, but encompasses values of responsibility and accountability where citizens young and old, men and women, disabled or able-bodied, whether

acting privately or through free media or civil society, control the political process continuously beyond elections.

Part of that taking root was the enfranchisement of women, which took place here in Cayman Islands in 1959.

Let us take a moment to celebrate your national hero, Sybil McLaughlin, who became the first woman in the Commonwealth to become Clerk of a legislature and the first woman in the Caribbean to become a Speaker of the House.

I would like also to take a moment to recognise former Speaker Hon Julianna O’Connor Connolly for her tremendous service to the CPA during her tenure as Speaker and as President of the CPA Cayman Islands Branch. She is a champion of gender equality and a champion of deepening ties across the Commonwealth.

Five women Speakers on since, Sybil McLaughlin, we see a grave underrepresentation of women in the Legislative Assembly here.

Although you had the largest number of women standing for election yet, this only made up 26% of all candidates – only 3 women of 19 MLAs elected to office. There remains an enormous amount of work to be done.

I’ve been reflecting since I arrived about influential women within the Region that have occupied positions of High Office.

Here in the Cayman Islands, you have a woman Governor Her Excellency Helen Kilpatrick. We also have women Governors General in Grenada, Bahamas and St Lucia, not to mention recent women Prime Ministers in the Region, until most recently:

Portia Miller in Jamaica and Kamla

Persad-Bissessar in Trinidad and Tobago.

In June I was delighted to visit Turks and Caicos where, following their elections in December, they have their first woman Head of Government, The Hon. Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson.

Grenada, Turks and Caicos, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana have all exceeded the 30% target that Commonwealth Heads of Government made for women’s representation in Parliaments.

This of course gives us a cause for celebration, but no matter what impressive strides we have made in our Commonwealth of Nations towards greater gender parity, we have a long way to go. The wider picture of gender equality across the Commonwealth is disappointing.

Honourable Members, recent 2016 figures from UN Women show that although the number of Women Parliamentarians has nearly doubled in the last 20 years, this only translates to 22% of women in national Parliaments today, or 9,000 MPs globally. Only 18% of all Commonwealth Parliamentarians are women.

The need for action was recognised by Commonwealth Heads of Government at their meeting in Edinburgh in 1997, when they set a target of 30% female representation in our Commonwealth legislatures.

As independent institutions sitting at the centre of a web of accountability reaching into the executive and the other branches of government, to the public and political parties, they are well placed to set an example and lead change by mirroring gender equality and inclusion of all sections of our societies in their composition.

This not only ensures participatory decision making, but engenders legitimacy and public confidence in our democratic institutions.

At a time when we are seeing public confidence in politicians and political institutions decreasing, the importance of parliaments being truly diverse and inclusive and being open to engaging with all sections of society and especially our young people cannot be overstated.

Honourable Members

The so-called public trust deficit or lack of confidence in elected officials is a challenge we must all tackle together. I commend Hon. Speaker McKeeva Bush for his robust remarks in his acceptance speech when taking up the office of Speaker. He said: “without all of us working together…we cannot make it”. He is absolutely correct.

He also expressed his firm commitment to order and good conduct in the House.

The importance of ensuring that an enduring relationship of trust exists and is nurtured between citizens and their parliaments has never been greater.

Parliamentarians gain legitimacy when people trust that they are acting in their best interests. The public’s trust in its Parliamentarians is a fundamental aspect of good governance and good governance is crucial as it can help uncover and deter unethical behaviour and corruption.

In this context, let me reference the body of work that has been undertaken by the CPA to support and enhance the conduct of parliamentarians; and to promote the effective functioning of democratic legislatures to fully express the will of the people and involve them in governance.

The work that I refer to is the Recommended Benchmarks for Codes of Conduct applying to parliamentarians published in 2015, and the CPA Recommended Benchmarks for Democratic Legislatures published in 2006.

These ‘standards’ continue to provide an excellent framework for self-assessment and reflection on which I would encourage you to rely to strengthen your parliament and people’s trust in parliamentary democracy.

The CPA continues today to lead in this pioneering work as we seek to update the benchmarks not only to ensure they remain relevant to the 21st century parliament, but also to help parliament respond to the 2015 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. UN Sustainable Development Goal 16 specifically anchors parliament as an effective, accountable and inclusive public institution key to delivering the wider development agenda. Working toward the 2030 agenda is an opportunity for each legislature to step up and drive transformative change in their societies so that no one is left behind.

Building networks and partnerships to meet the aspirations of Goal 16 is key and in this context, I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome our colleagues from other CPA Branches who have given freely of their time this week to support the development and advancement of the Legislative Assembly of the Cayman Islands.

Their presence here is testament to the mutuality of learning across our network that epitomises one of the key strengths of the CPA, namely our approach of ‘peer to peer’ learning, as the cornerstone of knowledge transfer.

Honourable Members

If I may turn to another critical area of parliamentary development crucial for the effective functioning of parliament: its scrutiny function. Evidence shows that in societies where Parliaments conduct effective scrutiny of public spending, there exists a much lower incidence of corruption.

The CPA and World Bank partnership to strengthen the work of Public Accounts Committees in the Caribbean Region demonstrated the effectiveness and value of sharing good practices.

The Caribbean Network of PACs has highlighted some key strengths of the Cayman Islands model on which you can build. Your PAC has the unique mandate to consider budget estimates and the efficiency of government policy.

It is incredibly active, meeting around 10 times in each year compared to some PACs which meet only once or twice in a year, or not at all. Your PAC is supported by a dedicated staff member. This provides us with great a cause for celebration.

However, opening parliament up to the people in order to encourage participatory democracy is key – your PAC operates in camera. Perhaps you might consider how to respond to 21st Century citizens who demand genuine openness of parliament and transparency of its proceedings.

In a world where technologies have made this direct link between the people and the institutions of democracy possible, parliament has an obligation, a duty and a responsibility to respond.

Parliamentary openness leads undoubtedly to an erosion of political alienation. When people can look into their parliaments to follow what’s going on, they feel a greater sense of a democracy that is available to us all to be involved in.

I read recently that in St Lucia, there were potential moves to discontinue the live broadcasting of parliament. To my great relief, I read that there was passionate opposition to the move, and it was dropped.

Apparently, in protest to the move to ‘close parliament to the people’, somebody created a poster on which it read: “It is denying people their rights to information and that is a very dangerous precedent with serious implications for democracy”.

The openness of parliament is critical for its oversight function – it is the direct link between people and the Executive. Without parliamentary transparency when it comes to scrutinising government, the legitimacy of parliament can be called into question.

Honourable Members, you will know that the CPA recently elected as Small Branches Chairperson, the Honourable Anglu Farrugia MP of Malta who is seeking to build an exciting new strategy to enable the CPA to better support Small Branches such as Cayman Islands, to meet their unique and specific needs.

I would strongly encourage your branch either alone or collectively through your regional network to share with him your experience of the unique challenges facing Small Branches – such as resource constraints, the challenges of oversight and difficulties establishing an effective committee system, or opening parliament up to the public – to ensure that the Small Branches strategic approach is genuinely responsive to its membership.

Honourable Members, the success of this seminar is important to the CPA; it is the embodiment of our collective desire to share and exchange views from across the Commonwealth to achieve our democratic ideals for the benefit of our societies.

In closing, I would like to thank most sincerely the Hon. Speaker and Clerk of the Legislature for hosting the CPA, and the CPA’s resource team who have agreed to dedicate their precious time and to lend their experience and expertise to help deliver this important seminar. They are:

 Honourable K. H. Randolph Horton, until recently the Speaker of the Parliament of Bermuda

 Honourable Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George MP from the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago

 Mrs Heather Cook, Clerk to the Houses of Parliament in Jamaica and CPA Regional Secretary for the Caribbean, Americas and Atlantic Region.

I join our hosts in welcoming you all to this Post Election Seminar. I wish you well in your deliberations and look forward to the forming of lasting and productive relationships.

Thank you.

END

Mr Akbar Khan 7th Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA)
Born in Guyana, South America before moving to the United Kingdom, Mr Akbar Khan is a qualified lawyer who has practised in the UK and United States and has worked in the fields of international law and human rights for several international organisations. He has held various diplomatic and legal positions with the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office including representing British legal interests before the International Courts and United Nations Tribunals and he has worked at the Commonwealth Secretariat. Mr Akbar Khan was appointed as the 7th Secretary- General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) in 2016 and the Association represents over 180 Branches (parliaments and legislatures) across the nine regions of the Commonwealth. It offers a vast opportunity for Parliamentarians and parliamentary staff to collaborate on issues of mutual interest and to share good practice.