From left: Ellis Lorenzo Webster with members of Parliament and Speaker of the House sitting, and Governor Tim Foy standing.
ANGUILLA--The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) of the United Kingdom is hosting a five-day virtual post-election seminar for all new and returning elected parliamentarians to the House of Assembly. Training is intended to improve their knowledge and in-depth understanding of parliamentary practices and procedures and the skills needed to legislate, scrutinize and provide oversight as they represent their communities.
Governor Tim Foy was joined by Premier Ellis Lorenzo Webster, Speaker of the House Barbara Webster-Bourne and all elected members of both his government, as well as the opposition members, on Monday at the Atlin Harrigan Parliamentary Building for the opening session of the training. The governor welcomed all members to the House. He said, “No matter what side of the House you sit on, you play a vital role in upholding and progressing Anguilla’s democracy.”
Topics during the week include, the opportunities and challenges of newly elected members of parliament (MP), parliaments in the 21st century, rules and powers-standing orders and precedent, empowering female voices in parliament, behaviour/ethics and standards, the legislative process, and parliament administration and financing.
Webster-Bourne thanked the CPA secretariat for generously supporting the delivery of the virtual post-election seminar. She said Anguilla’s House of Assembly must be ground zero for the advancement of change which was the nexus of the current government’s platform.
Jack Hardcastle, CPA programme assistant opened the seminar by congratulating all members on the election outcomes. He noted that although this seminar has been running for years, this seminar is historic as it is the first time that it has been offered virtually. He said, “The sessions throughout the week will be driven by the high quality team of resource people to include speakers from across the region and commonwealth.”
Stephen Twigg, CPA secretary general-elect also participated in the virtual opening. He congratulated Barbara Webster-Bourne on her election as speaker, and thanked her and her colleagues and parliamentary staff both in Anguilla and in CPA/UK for their hard work to make the virtual seminar possible. He said, “This is a hugely challenging time for all of us across the world. My observation today is that it is more important than ever that we reaffirm our shared commonwealth values of good governance, an open transparent government and democratic norms.”
John Davis, Chief Executive/CPA UK expressed his support for post-election training, and more specifically for his involvement in the election assessment mission. The mission report and findings will be issued in a few weeks.
