The Tribune

WHEN Parliament was prorogued, it came as something of a surprise.

There does not need to be anything unusual about the process – but the move certainly raised questions as to why it was done.

PLP chairman Fred Mitchell said it was nothing unusual and that the party had agreed to going back to the position where “you reset the agenda”.

So, if the agenda has been reset, yesterday’s Speech from the Throne by Governor General Cynthia “Mother” Pratt gives us a good guide as to what the priorities now are – and what has been jettisoned.

For example, when Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis came to office, he talked of the need for transparency and accountability. You’ll have to look very hard indeed for those words in the speech this time around.

Then there is the issue of marital rape. It was not on the agenda when the party came into office but when Mr Davis said as much, it very quickly found its way onto the agenda – and yet no sign of it in yesterday’s speech.

The new leader of government business, National Security Minister Wayne Munroe, has previously said that criminalising marital rape should not be a significant priority for the government because it was not in the Blueprint for Change manifesto. The absence of any mention of such legislation in the Speech from the Throne suggests we should not anticipate much movement on that issue in the remaining term of this administration. That said, it was not on the agenda at all until public pressure put it there – and public pressure may well put it back on the agenda once more.

Then there is the issue of citizenship – and the uneven situation which mostly means that women are unable to pass on their citizenship in the same way as men do. Despite the government having said it would await the outcome of the Privy Council ruling before proceeding with any changes, now that ruling has arrived there is still no sign of giving women the same rights as men on the legislative agenda.

There is no mention either of the full implementation of the Freedom of Information Act. That was due before the end of this year – next month, in fact. Was it left out of the speech because it was so close to fruition? We shall see in a month’s time.

On a number of other issues, the speech laid out broad strokes, but little in the way of detail. Listening to the speech, you would not know how we intend to crack down on crime, or tackle immigration.

There are positives, however – although some have been laid out previously. The addition of five more Supreme Court Justices in an effort to get rid of the backlog of court cases that continues to clog up our justice system is urgently needed.

The suggestion of offering free internet to the country’s poorest families will hopefully break down the digital divide that is holding back another generation from full participation and the prospect of a brighter future.

Some of the suggestions will be contentious – such as anti-gang legislation that gives tougher penalties to those who are members of a gang. If two people commit the same crime, why does one deserve a greater punishment because of their supposed affiliations?

One caveat – Attorney General Ryan Pinder says that just because something is not part of the speech, it does not mean it is not on the agenda. Bills that ran out of time in the previous session will be tabled again, for example.

But the speech does give the broad picture of where the government is going – and if the issues you are concerned about have not been mentioned, it may well be time to remind your MP of the time they have to resolve those issues before the time to vote comes around again.