GREETINGS - THE POST-ELECTION SEMINAR TCI CPA BRANCH IN COLLABORATION WITH THE COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTARY ASSOCIATION

Elections, from the earliest origin, was established to fulfill the essential needs of a population and to ensure the prosperity and longevity of a nation through the esteemed democratic choice.  

The entire election process harvests some of the best solutions for national issues and socio-economic progression and challenges each candidate to pledge their commitment to the most beneficial resolve for both country and citizen. It also can sometimes be a display of manipulative tactics that produce no solid or tangible solutions to serious issues and critical socio-economic paradigms. However, a great Parliamentarian possesses the ability to recognise and prioritise the important components that will sustain upward growth, the aptitude to place citizen before self; and the capacity to objectively govern.  

Parliamentary procedure is a vital part of ensuring impartiality in the marriage of majority rule and the rights of the minority – a delicate balance that is necessary for the careful and unbiased conduct of any parliamentary practice. This standard is the baseline for Rules of Order.  

In the Turks and Caicos Islands, freedom of election and political participation forms the core of our culture and is a true expression of patriotism. Democracy at the root, bestows the right of choice upon an individual but it can also empower an individual to offer themselves in service as a parliamentarian, with or without prior knowledge or experience of how parliament works.  

Therefore, it is especially important for all Parliamentarians, novel and experienced, to embrace the opportunity to learn and understand the training that will be imparted over the length of this seminar. To be effective legislators we must be voracious in the acquisition of knowledge and to be experts in our fields, we must become habitual in exemplary practice.  

I am excited and anticipate a very successful seminar.