PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY - Inter-Parliamentary Union

72 I PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
Parliament, not political parties, they give all members of the area,
regardless of political affiliation, an opportunity to discuss constituency
issues with their representatives in Parliament. The PCICs are
centrally located and are easily accessed by the majority of people in
that constituency. They are also located close to local or Government
authorities for coordination purposes……The PCIC is manned by the
Office Assistant who is an employee of Parliament on contract.
Reviews of the work of constituency offices generally suggest that their
effectiveness as a channel of communication and public participation depends
on the conscientiousness of the individual member (see the Zambia extract
above). It seems also that they are more successful at raising individual complaints
and problems than as a channel for views about the legislative activity
of members.
Further online reading about the organisation of parliam entary
constituency offices:
National Democratic Institute (2002). Constituency handbook for elected representatives
in Namibia.
United Nations Development Programme (nd). The legislature and constituency
relations.
A local development role for parliamentarians
In many developing societies the issues which constituents will look to
parliamentarians for assistance with concern very basic living issues – access
to water and sanitation, communal facilities, basic infrastructure, and so on.
Here members can have a direct role in helping initiate development projects
in their constituency, in a number of ways:
■ helping government define development priorities and supporting them in
their implementation;
■ assisting local groups and communities in securing funding for their own
projects;