MONTEGO BAY, St James — LLOYD B Smith, the member of Parliament for the newly established Central St James constituency has joined those urging that criteria be set for those seeking to be elected to political office.

Also, Smith wants an accommodation to be made to allow “competent persons” outside of parliament to be appointed to the Cabinet.

“Of all the professions in the world one can just get up and say I want to become a member of Parliament,” Smith told last week’s monthly meeting of the Rotary Club of Montego Bay East.

“You do not have to present any CV or résumés — all you have to be is a member of a political party and I have a problem with that,” Smith who is also deputy speaker of the House of Representative, said.

“I do believe there ought to be some specific criteria that should determine who should become a member of Parliament. In the same way… there should be criteria and specifications for persons who want to run as parish councillors,” he added.

Regarding ministerial and junior ministerial positions, Smith argued that “as far as is possible, we need to restructure government so it is not by virtue of being a member of Parliament that one becomes a minister or minister of state, but that we must reach a stage in this country where the most competent persons have an opportunity to serve the country”.

Members of Cabinet are currently drawn from members of the Upper and Lower Houses.

He claimed that, “if we continue to pursue (the current) governmental structure, inherent in that structure will be incompetence”.

He cited the need for a greater understanding among the masses as to what a parliamentarian’s role ought to be.

“One of the problems we face in a lot of the communities is some politicians — not all — have created in the people’s minds a tremendous level of mendicancy and dependency,” Smith said.