Increasing political debate in Government

This is the seventh edition of this weekly blog posted every saturday to Facebook.

The thought behind this blog is to feature broad stroke ideas that can make major changes for the better in our country, will not cost too much, won’t take years to implement and will not be hamstrung by an ineffective state.

Please give it a thumbs up if you like the ideas and share with your friends.

Please also share your own ideas for potential inclusion on this page via: suggestions@nationaldialogueblogsa

What?

The national council of provinces should be dissolved and replaced by a constituency-based senate.

Why?

The NCOP is voted for indirectly in provincial elections by proportional representation and at the same time as the national elections - so it will always generally mirror the balance of power in the national assembly – though without any representation from the minnow parties. It is hard to imagine how a party could win a majority of the provinces without also being the majority in the national assembly.

The NCOP does not, therefore, add a different perspective to the national dialogue. As proportional representatives these politicians are subject to the immediate discipline of their parties who can recall them. Similarly, the members of the national assembly are the slaves of their parties so cannot speak their convictions.

With both working for the same masters who are the ones that originate policy the chances of a member of either the NCOP or the national assembly voting against their part is effectively nil. Debates are therefore performative only aimed with an eye on the next election and not with any attempt to convince other members of the chamber.

One chamber (the national assembly) elected by proportional representation is adequate to allow very small parties a voice and an opportunity to grow (if not to affect policy). Two is wasteful.

Constituency based legislators are answerable to their constituency and so can successfully defy their party on an issue without the certainty of being immediately recalled. This is particularly true if they hold office for a longer period than normal MP’s.

If all legislation had to be passed by this second chamber (the senate) we would have far more honest, productive debates and the potential that legislation might not be passed instead of the rubber stamping we now have from the NCOP.

How?

This will require a constitutional amendment.  The number of senators must be less that the NCOP members to reduce costs. Perhaps 50 senators – each elected by a roughly equal sized constituency (in terms of population).

To avoid gerrymandering, each constituency should be as near to a geographical circle as possible.

Senators should be elected for 6 years.

Why Not?

1)              Provinces will not have a direct voice when the issues of separation of powers between levels of Government are affected. This is true, but as it now stands only the party with the most provinces (which is the ruling party almost always) holds sway at the NCOP and separation of powers will not affect those provinces – it only really affects a province controlled by a smaller party. Each province will have senators primarily in their province who can represent them and are relatively free from party hegemony.