Speaker heading in right direction

 PARLIAMENT Speaker Theo Zurenuoc received quite a bit of flak in 2013 from the media and sectors of the community over his plans to “reform, restore and modernise” Parliament House in Waigani.

While his critics branded Zurenuoc a cultural terrorist, there were others who supported his push to change the haus tambaran (house of spirits) image that Parliament had portrayed since it was officially opened by Prince Charles on Oct 7, 1984.

Zurenuoc, the young Finschhafen MP who was appointed Speaker after the general election in June 2012, made no bones at the time about inheriting a parliament that had lost its “dignity, integrity, respect and reverence”. Amid the heavy criticism, he defended his decision, saying Parliament had become a house “riddled with rotten administrative systems and processes that urgently needed reformation, restoration and modernisation”.

Zurenuoc defended his plans for change in a four-page advertisement in the daily newspapers.

“Since Parliament stands as a symbol of collective wisdom and the pinnacle of political decision-making in which noble dreams of great men and women have been, and will continue to be, translated into reality through legislation that will transcend to the executive, judiciary and the rest of society, it needed the reformation, restoration and modernisation to be undertaken as a project of national unity,” he said in a newspaper advertisement in 2013.

Zurenuoc had shown true grit in defending his plans to make Parliament House more user-friendly. And des­pite accusations that he was bent on cleansing and destroying cultural heritage in the people’s house, the Speaker maintained the changes were for the better in the long run.

Zurenuoc comes from a deeply political and religious family whose members have played significant roles in nation-building since independence. The Speaker and Chief Secretary Sir Manasupe Zurenuoc are maintaining that family legacy.

Last year, Zurenuoc again raised eyebrows in Parliament about the distraction that was being caused by the District Services Improvement Programme (DSIP) to his fellow MPs.

He was concerned that the DSIP’s popularity was affecting the MPs’ commitments to their principal parliamentary roles and responsibilities. 

“MPs are now perceived by the people as solely responsible for the delivery of goods and services, thus it is relegating the MPs’ position to become like project managers. Due to lack of dynamism in the public service MPs are so engrossed in project management and delivery of services that it is practically impossible to avoid being involved,” he told a workshop on the ‘Role of parliamentarians and constituency development funds’.

Zurenuoc said the people’s perception was that MPs were solely responsible for their improvement in lifestyle. 

“This situation forces many MPs to shift focus away from the traditional role of legislators or law makers and therefore the danger of lack of executive Government oversight creeps in. My challenge, and maybe a contribution as head of the legislature, is to help correct people’s mindset and to hold the public service accountable for delivery of services.”

As the Speaker rightly stated, our MPs had become project managers who were more interested in dishing out DSIP funds and buying construction equipment for their electorates. Due to the lack of efficient and effective district administrations throughout the country, MPs have intervened to call the shots. The Speaker said at the time he planned to help MPs to revert to their role as legislators and to devise practical legislative solutions that would make the public service mechanism become dynamic and be able to deliver the outcomes desired by the DSIP. 

Zurenuoc is now telling his parliamentary officers to be honest in their duties and adhere to processes.

“We have to be honest on how we performed last year,” he told his divisional managers at a retreat last weekend while reminding them that the vision was still on the restoration, reformation and modernisation of Parliament.

It takes good leadership and sometimes unpopular decisions to achieve such visions. And the Speaker is certainly heading in the right direction.