The Role of Parliamentarians in the PRSP

Chair: Shekhar Shah, Governance Advisor, PRMPS, World Bank

Speaker: Scott Hubli, Senior Governance Advisor, National Democratic Institute

Background document:  Scott Hubli, National Democratic Institute, The Role of Parliaments in the PRSP Process (320kb PDF)

Summary of discussion:

The seminar was co-sponsored by PRMPR and WBIGF, and was chaired by Shekhar Shah, Governance Adviser (PRMPS). Scott Hubli, Senior Governance Adviser from the National Democratic Institute (NDI) shared his experience and insights on the need for, and constraints upon, greater parliamentary involvement in PRSP formulation and monitoring. NDI is a non-profit US-based, organization whose mandate is to promote democracy worldwide.

Scott described the three components of NDI's PRSP-related work:

1. Pilot programs in three countries (Niger, Malawi, and Nigeria) to strengthen legislative engagement in the PRSP process. (UNDP-funded)
2. Annex to the PRSP Sourcebook on "Parliaments and the PRSP." (Bank-funded)
3. Regional (video) conference for parliamentarians from the pilot countries to share experiences legislative engagement in the PRSP process. (Bank-funded)

Scott summarized the rationale for parliamentary engagement in the PRSP process. Parliamentary approval is generally required to enact budgets and legislation for PRSP implementation. Parliaments enhance political accountability, ensure that civil society consultations are broad-based and that expenditures are effective. Should political accountability be absent, it renders technical assistance for financial accountability less effective. While representative capacity of parliaments and civil society varies from one country to another, electoral mandates give parliaments legitimacy which can be instrumental in spurring the process forward. Parliaments provide a forum for building multiparty consensus on poverty reduction priorities. Through the holding of public hearings, and constituent relations bureaus, parliaments help to sustain the participatory processes underpinning the PRSP. The currently limited role played by most parliaments in this regard i.e. as a rubber stamp to approve measures not discussed by parliament, can undermine efforts to strengthen the development of democratic institutions.

Based on Scott's observation of current practice, the main constraints on greater parliamentary involvement in the PRSP are:

• Limited awareness about the PRSP process
• Weak capacity in terms of both human and financial resources
• Government recalcitrance - reluctance of the executive branch to allow greater legislative involvement.

The potential role for parliamentary involvement in the PRSP will vary from one constitutional/governance and electoral system to another. As a general rule, however, parliaments can be most effective by their involvement in the following:

• PRSP Formulation
  • Use of public hearings to reinforce civil society engagement in the PRSP process
  • Establishment of formal links between sectoral standing committees and thematic working groups
  • Parliament could, in appropriate circumstances, review the quality of the participatory process by which the PRSP is developed, something which is exempted from review in the JSA.
• PRSP Implementation
  • Public awareness - parliamentarians can play key role in information dissemination and in developing public demand for effective implementation of PRSP measures
  • Ensuring consistency of PRSP with legislation and budgets
  • Constituent perspectives - parliamentarians can be effective listeners and actors in response to emerging public concerns/voices of approval on progress in poverty reduction
  • Parliaments' audit functions can provide key contributions to the monitoring of prioritized poverty reduction expenditures and to feeding the results of monitoring exercises directly into the policy making process (unlike NGOs)
  • Review of Annual Progress reports - parliamentarians generally "have the pulse" of developments in their district. They can provide timely feedback on PRSP implementation to governments, thereby enhancing the quality and representativeness of these reports.

Scott presented briefly the PRSP country case studies of Niger and Malawi with respect to the involvement of parliaments in the process to date. For Niger, key highlights include:

• No detectable government resistance to National Assembly (NA) involvement in PRSP process
• NA suffers from very weak human and technical capacity, and a few deputies have volunteered involvement in their individual capacity, reflecting a strong commitment to the PRSP
• NA role in the PRSP remains undefined, and gaps exist between work of sectoral commissions and thematic working groups
• Series of briefings for NA's legislative commissions are planned in near future
• Series of radio public service announcements on role of NA and its role in PRSP forthcoming, in addition to broadcasts (post-PRSP approval) hosted by legislative commissions to discuss leg. Agenda and portions of PRSP within their jurisdiction.

In the case of Malawi, the key points were:

• PRSP Formulation
  • Parliament's involvement was undefined for the PRSP formulation, but needs to be developed for the monitoring phase
  • Budget and Finance Committees have basic capacity which needs to be strengthened, in partnership with civil society organizations; members of these committees willing to spend only limited political capital on PRSP issues
  • PRSP process politicized, and resistance to National Assembly's involvement exists. Use of development resources for political patronage perceived to be an issue
  • Constrained financial resources for committees to meet; often dependent on donor support to facilitate meetings; governance emphasis of PRSP could promote need for adequate funding of oversight committees.
• PRSP Implementation
  • Consultant scheduled to assist Budget and Finance committees produce report on PRSP process, with proposals on functional responsibilities between these committees, on the Assembly's role in civil society's monitoring programs and in oversight of priority poverty expenditures.

Key Points and Next Steps

In moving ahead with the better integration of parliaments in the PRSP process, all stakeholders need to keep in mind the following points raised during the discussion:

• Strong legislatures do not automatically lead to good governance (for ex. The French 3rd Republic)
• Need to be mindful of different incentives which operate in parliamentary systems versus those in systems based on the separation of powers
• New forms of engagement for parliaments challenge existing norms in many countries, especially in Africa
• Need to build up good practice case studies focused on incentives e.g. Ghana's Public Accounts Committee is always from opposition
• Parliaments may become integrated into the rolling PRSP process at any time between three-year milestones of PRSP preparation
• Awareness raising and capacity building of parliaments in conflict-affected countries needs to be tailored to country circumstances.