MEMBERS of Parliament (MPs) will participate in a two-day training and bridge-building seminar to be held at the Savannah Suite of the Pegasus Hotel here in the city, beginning tomorrow. The theme of the seminar is ‘Managing through Partnership’.
At the last sitting of the National Assembly, House Speaker Raphael Trotman reminded the House that he had previously reported that the Parliament Office was working feverishly with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), United Kingdom branch, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to have an induction seminar for MPs in this “new and uniquely configured 10th Parliament.”
“MPs, of course,” he said, “will be properly invited, and are expected to fully participate; and we are hoping to include other stakeholders from civil society, if it is possible.”
The objective of the workshop, to be facilitated by members of the UNDP Head Office and the CPA, is to introduce new parliamentarians to the workings of the National Assembly generally, and more specifically, to have all MPs exposed and become familiar with techniques for bridge- building, partnership and collaborative development.
According to Parliament Office, this seminar is coming at a propitious time — immediately after consideration of the 2012 budget — and is carefully designed to give MPs and  parliamentary officers a detailed knowledge and working understanding of the processes and procedures of the uniquely configured National Assembly, in which no party has a commanding majority, and in which partnerships and collaborations are imperative.
Topics to be covered include the relationship between the three branches of government — Executive, Legislative and Judiciary; understanding collaborative leadership, and leadership for national development; collaborative leadership and bridge-building; the roles of MPs; majority/minority governance; Parliamentary Committees; and financial scrutiny.
An opening ceremony will be held today at De Impeccable Banquet Hall on Brickdam and Sandeman Street, Georgetown at 19:00 hrs.
Meanwhile, Government’s Chief Whip, Ms. Gail Teixeira, and Opposition Leader David Granger recently represented Guyana at the CPA’s 37th Conference of the Caribbean, Americas and the Atlantic Region, which took place in Kingston, Jamaica, from May 11 -18.
Among topics covered were raising levels of integrity amongst Parliamentarians; robust debate versus civil and uncivil conduct; parliamentarians who appear before the courts; and part-time versus full-time Parliament.