In the Westminster political system backbenchers on the governing side play a key role in enhancing parliamentary democracy. In large evolved Westminster jurisdictions these non-members of the executive combined with the opposition are often the majority. The prime minister always has to ensure that he has enough of them on his side for legislation to pass and for his government not to fall.
The Bahamas has a small Parliament. And, in recent years prime ministers have chosen to make nearly every elected member on their respective sides members of the Cabinet. The few who are not are usually given chairmanships of state agencies. Therefore, there is usually no independent backbench. When prime ministers have everyone on his side always, a critical element of oversight to legislation is lost.
The comments of Dr. Andre Rollins in today's paper are a good sign. Rollins argued that the government should tax web shops to boost revenues and introduce value added tax (VAT) at a lower rate than the proposed 15 percent. Along with being Gaming Board chairman, Rollins is the member of Parliament for Fort Charlotte.
The MP also commented on the controversial Gaming Bill now before Parliament and told The Nassau Guardian that "Believe in Bahamians" needs to be more than an election slogan. Rollins said debate on the modernization of the country's gaming industry should not be focused on expanding the sector to benefit foreigners while ignoring Bahamian participation.
"While VAT is such a hot topic in our country we have to look at this as an opportunity to at least reduce the amount of apprehension or to whatever extent we can appease the public that is concerned now more than ever about being overtaxed," he said.
Rollins said taxing web shops would give the government a revenue injection, allowing VAT to be phased in at a low rate over a few years.
"That would allow the transition into VAT, I believe, to be a lot more palatable or manageable for the average Bahamian," he said.
+"We know that VAT is still not considered to be a progressive form of taxation. It's a regressive tax, maybe not as regressive as a customs duty-based regime, but it's regressive nonetheless."
We do not endorse all the views of Rollins. However, we do think it is important that people in his role are willing to take positions contrary to their party leaders.
The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), Rollins' party, is not seeking to legalize gaming for Bahamians and it is strongly pushing VAT.
The government plans to institute a 15 percent VAT on July 1, 2014. The Gaming Bill would allow casinos to offer mobile and Internet gaming, while preventing Bahamian web shops from legally doing so. Rollins said it "makes no sense" to modernize the gaming industry for foreigners while leaving Bahamians out.
"We cannot as the government fuel a perception that we are enacting legislation that is geared toward bringing modernization to our country but which simultaneously leaves Bahamians behind," he said. The PLP has 30 members in the House of Assembly.
If more of these men and women, especially the members not in Cabinet, have the courage of conviction to publicly articulate differing policy perspectives, they would have the ability to influence the decisions of Prime Minister Perry Christie.
Prime ministers do not like to lose votes in parliaments. When they see significant opposition from their backbenches, they take note.
If the opposition is overwhelming, chief ministers often shelve measures or alter them to make them palatable enough to a clear majority. We hope the younger MPs continue to speak up and push their leaders on matters of policy. We elected them to be our voice. We need them to help push to ensure that good policy is made law.
Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian
