Dear Editor,
I think everyone will agree with me that some members of parliament and ministers of the government are not performing to the best of their ability in their respective regions and ministry.
They are in the National Assembly, but as I understand it, the position taken by them there does not represent matters of great importance affecting the region and its people, and they have become rubber stamps. To start with the example of Region Two, we have to ask what is wrong with these members of parliament and what the remedies are which the newly elected President will propose.
To resolve this issue of proper representation the party should select the most suitable candidates for the purposes of good governance. The appointment of members of parliament has emerged out of an historical experience which culminated in the entrenchment of those with a political relationship but with no sound educational background and who cannot therefore stand before the National Assembly and present a case. Out of the spoils yielded by the system some benefit did indeed trickle down to those below without education.
It is improbable that this came about as the primary objective of the failed system. And in any case, only those who hugged the soup bowl were likely to benefit. Many of the grosser defects of the selection of members of parliament and ministers can be corrected as they have been largely corrected in the welfare states of modern Western Europe. The imbalances within the system impose constraints and cause frictions which render it an unacceptable one for developing nations like ours.
The standard socialist constitution is based on an ideology which is frankly largely irrelevant to our history, circumstances, aims and aspirations. The people have voted at periodic elections but, for the rest, they seem to look on from the outside. They may criticize the party and government for the selection of these members of parliament and ministers, but they do so as spectators.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan
