Now that the new Parliament has settled in and started to do its work attention has once again focused on the matter of accountability and transparency in what it does.

Accountability is not something to be wished for, but demanded. In the run-up to the 2025 General Election I said repeatedly in this space that all prospective parliamentarians have actually come to us seeking a job. Thus, they should be analysed and weighed no differently from people seeking a job in the private sector or anywhere else.

Given the tribal characteristics of our politics, this salient fact is often lost on many Jamaicans who are registered to vote. Many allow themselves to be bamboozled by the many promises that these politicians make. They are dazzled by the hype and rhetoric and so allow themselves to be led down the garden path of illusions which, at the end of the day, leave them frustrated and disillusioned. Very few will vet these potential leaders and subject them to the kind of scrutiny which is required of an employer questioning a potential employee. Thus, we do not always get the kind of leadership that can advance the best interests of the people.

Nonetheless, we must not lose sight of the fact that once these leaders are elected they are employed by the Jamaican people. As our employees, or better yet servants, they answer to us. They are paid from our hard-earned tax dollars. And I would say very handsomely given the new wage package that was introduced which vastly increased the emoluments of all 63 Members of the House of Representatives. Senators are yet to be paid, and one wonders why not. They are integral to the legislative process even though they were not directly elected by the people. This is a matter that needs to be corrected in the new iteration of constitutional reform.

Even councillors and mayors have seen a dramatic increase in their emoluments. Yet they and many parliamentarians do not take the people’s business as seriously as they profess when running for office. One of the big criticisms that this column had of the wage packet is that clear criteria for accountability were not worked out before it was applied. I argued that merely giving people wage increases will not necessarily make them work harder. If these are not appended to clear criteria for deliverability, you can forget it.

And who vets the work that parish councillors and parliamentarians do? What are they doing that merits a large increase in their salaries? When we move around in the various districts scattered across Jamaica we see neglect and what I call the little irritations that cause people to be angry and fed up with the political process. Why should a gaping pothole continue untended until it becomes a pond or an open drain left untended because of a grill that has rotted until a hapless victim falls in?

Or take the matter of the attendance of our parliamentarians at sessions and committees of the Parliament. The one big error of the great wage packet, as I call it, is that this vexing issue was not ventilated before the package was given. It is no secret that many parliamentarians do not show up for duty in our Parliament. It is well known that getting a quorum at parliamentary committee meetings is like searching for oil on Mars. Some attend Parliament only when critical legislation is being voted on. One cannot be sure if they ever read the Bill that is placed before them and very few give a response to these Bills, inside or outside of Parliament.

Some simply sit warming the chairs, appearing bored or digging into their cellphones. This is one bad habit that I see among parliamentarians. Someone is speaking on the floor yet you can see some, at least those who the cameras pick up, scrolling through their phones oblivious of what the speaker is saying, but certainly disinterested in the reason they are there. What I am talking about here is basic etiquette. Is this how one does the people’s business?

Basically, and fundamentally, what I am calling for here is the rediscovery of a more vibrant and robust work ethic. A rediscovery of what true servanthood is about and to have the moral courage of not collecting salaries under false pretence. No one was voted into Parliament to represent his or her own interests but that of the people of Jamaica. We demand to see fundamental changes in their attitudes to work.

Clear guidelines must be developed to punish non or poor attendance at Parliament. We may start with reducing pay relative to an established percentile of non-attendance. The Speaker must address the matter of the use of cellphones in parliamentary sessions. I am yet to be convinced that many who do are actually looking at Bills they have downloaded.

Parliamentarians, you are being paid well. We demand work that justifies your salary.

Dr Raulston Nembhard is a priest, social commentator, and author of the books Finding Peace in the Midst of Life’s Storms; Your Self-esteem Guide to a Better Life; and Beyond Petulance: Republican Politics and the Future of America. He hosts a podcast — Mango Tree Dialogues — on his YouTube channel. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or stead6655@aol.com.

This photo shows newly elected Members of the House of Representatives at a recent sitting. (Photo: Joseph Wellington)