23rd Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC) |18 January 2016
Speaker Herminie addresses challenges facing the independence of the Speaker
Seychelles to host 2018 Conference
The Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC) has elected Seychelles as its new chairperson for the next two years.
The National Assembly of Seychelles will thus host the next CSPOC to be held in 2018.
The election took place during the 23rd CSPOC which took place in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia from January 9-14, 2016 and at which Seychelles was represented by the Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Patrick Herminie.
The conference, which was officially opened by the deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, saw the participation of almost 50 Speakers from across the Commonwealth.
Held every two years, the conference aims to maintain, foster and encourage impartiality and fairness on the part of Speakers and Presiding Officers of parliaments; and to promote knowledge and understanding of parliamentary democracy through the sharing of best practices.
Speaker Herminie had the honour of addressing the conference on the topic ‘Challenges facing the independence of the Speaker’. In his expose, Dr Herminie argued that the political role of a Speaker should be clearly spelt out in the constitution, given the multifarious powers, rights and duties of the Speaker’s Office. He also made an indepth analysis of the impact that party politics may have on the independence of the speakership.
The Speaker further elaborated other factors that might compromise the Speaker as an impartial adjudicator and that, he said, include the way a Speaker is appointed, the extent of his security of tenure and the administrative and financial autonomy of the legislature.
Other topics discussed in the conference included the security of parliaments and its precincts, parliamentary privilege to allow members to perform their duties without outside threat or interference and as a mean to ensure the strict separation of powers between the three branches of government as well as capacity building and professional development of the members of parliament.