A National Youth Parliament, comprising the cream of a crop of intelligent and leading young people, has now been launched in Anguilla and had its first meeting on Thursday, October 8. That is two days after the members took their oaths in the House of Assembly and delivered their rallying addresses.
The smartly-dressed young parliamentarians were ushered into the crowded Atlin Harrigan Parliamentary Building by the Pathfinders and Boys Brigade drum bands which accompanied them from the grounds of the General Post Office, more than 300 feet away.
Speaker of the official Anguilla House of Assembly, Mr. Leroy Rogers, commended the young people for their coming role which he saw as a new approach to parliamentary interaction between the officially- elected representatives and the youth of Anguilla.
Mr Henry Charles, the former Director of the Commonwealth Youth Programme in London, and the Caribbean Youth Centre in Guyana, was contracted as the consultant for the Youth Parliament project and the training of members in Anguilla and other islands.
“The Commonwealth Youth Programme provided much support in putting together what the distinguished Speaker referred to as a commendable effort in terms of getting a revised – a new approach to the Youth Parliament,” Mr. Charles observed. “It is because young people – at various Commonwealth gatherings, whether at the Heads of Government meetings or at the CARICOM meetings, or more recently at the Ministers’ of Youth meetings – have been clamouring for more space and more opportunities for participation. Therefore, the Commonwealth [Secretariat] including the United Nations, have developed a new perspective on Youth Parliaments. There was a time when Youth Parliaments were seen as a mock where young people just came, spoke, and there wasn’t much attention paid to what they were saying… and many young people get frustrated.” He stated that such a situation had led to a disgust of politics and political participation among them.
Mr. Charles continued: “The new approach to the Youth Parliament is about encouraging young people to remain engaged in the democratic processes. It is also a strategy to counteract the negative forces trying to get young people to lose faith in dialogue; and to lose faith in the process of governance… It is to give them an opportunity to express their views on what is happening in national development in a very organised way.”
He advised the young parliamentarians to take the political debate to higher ground and, at the same time, not to succumb to the mistakes of politicians; to remain loyal to the trust placed in them by other young people; and to represent their collective views and aspirations.
Director of Youth and Culture, Mr. Bren Romney, who worked assiduously on the setting up of the Youth Parliament, said that after several attempts, a different approach was taken to establish the Youth Parliament. He spoke about researching the matter to determine what the best practices were in Sri Lanka and in a number of Caribbean territories. “We found that while the Sri Lankan model was impressive, it did not give young people a direct a linkage to the actual national Parliament, so we are now trying something in Anguilla which is quite different,” he told his listeners. “As a matter of fact, the rest of the Caribbean, and the Caribbean Youth Programme, are so impressed with what we are attempting that they are using it as a model for other Caribbean territories. I was told that the first country up for that test is Grenada. They are actually going to model what we are doing.”
Mr. Romney continued: “All we are doing is mirroring the actual parliament. In other words, the young people are literally going to follow the same rules of procedure as our House of Assembly. They have the same positions. The Youth Parliament is structured in the same manner; and they do not have an independent set of rules and procedures. So they are the youth version of the Anguilla House of Assembly. In many respects, they are going to do their best, but they cannot debate everything that the actual House will debate – but they will choose strategically the matters that they can handle and do their best to provide a youth perspective on the issues of the day.”
Chief Minister, Mr. Victor Banks, congratulated the members of the first Anguilla Youth Parliament. “We feel privileged that we have been afforded this opportunity to come to the House of Assembly and see our young people perform in the roles that many of us have performed over the years,” he commented. “It is important that the Department of Youth and Culture has put this initiative in place. It took a year to do it because it required a lot of study and research and discussion so that it can evolve in the way it has today.”
Addressing the young people, the Chief Minister advised them: “Your job now, as the first Youth Parliament sitting in the House of Assembly, is an opportunity that you have to learn the skills of parliamentarians, as well as an opportunity to have an input in some of the issues we discuss. This is the easy part of politics. There is a much more difficult aspect of politics…but it is important that you have decided that this is something you want to take on board. We are grateful now because we have the responsibility to conduct ourselves in a proper manner in this House of Assembly as parliamentarians. We have to show an example to you.”
Mr. Evans McNiel Rogers, Minister of Social Development and Youth Affairs, also spoke to the young people. “I must commend all of you who have completed your training and are now taking your seats in this House,” he told them in part. “You must remember that as representatives of young people, you are the voice of the voiceless; the hope of the powerless; and the example for all. Equally, you are a representation of all of the positive qualities in Anguillian youth: their creativity, intelligence, civic-mindedness and confidence. You must balance all of these expectations as you seek to do the business of the young people that you represent.”
Mr. Timothy Hodge, Director of Social Security, spoke on behalf of the Social Security Board which, according to him, “gladly contributed to the National Youth Parliament.” He expressed congratulations to the youth parliamentarians and looked forward to their positive contribution to an orderly and progressive Youth Parliament.
The members of the Youth Parliament are Regine Niles, Speaker; Marejah Smith (District 1, Leader of the Opposition); Malik Richards (District 2, Member of the Oposition); Clemvio Hodge (District 3, Chief Minister, Minister of Tourism and MICUH); Kemoloy Murphy (District 4, Minister of Social Protection); Anthea Roach (District 5, Minister of Home Affairs); Brittany Jeffers (Road South, Parliamentary Secretary); Geneva Hodge (District 7, Minister of Finance); Diaz Mussington (First Nominated Member); Krenzh Carty (Second Nominated Member); Ojeda Vanterpool (Attorney General); Hackeem Alves (Deputy Governor); Lanigue Connor (Clerk of the House of Assembly); and Ivory Crump and Genique Gayle (Backbenchers). All, except Brittany Jeffers and Diaz Mussington were present for the oaths of Office and Due Execution of Allegiance.
Following their swearing in, the members of the Anguilla Youth Parliament delivered excellent addresses in which they expressed their commitment and passion to their various roles.
The Youth Parliament was adjourned until Thursday, October 8, when it was expected to look at the rules of procedure and other matters regarding the functioning of the parliament.
