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{
    "id": 224070,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/224070/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 304,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Maj. Madoka",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 254,
        "legal_name": "Marsden Herman Madoka",
        "slug": "marsden-madoka"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I will be very brief. There are a few things which I would like to talk about. First, I believe there is a need to ensure that we have parties which are truly national. What is emerging today in this country is the spirit of ethnicity and tribalism. Therefore, in establishing political parties, may be, we need to find a way of ensuring that we control this. It can, obviously, be done through the Registrar of political parties. I believe that if there was a clear guideline to the Registrar to ensure that no political party will be registered unless it gets a certain number of people from each district, then we would sure that, that party will be truly national. Otherwise, we can never get these national parties that we keep talking about. I know it will be a difficult one but I think it is the only way of trying to ensure that we have parties that are truly national. The other issue is the funding of the political parties. In Ghana, they have a rule that any corporation, company or individuals who have interests in supplying any materials or any equipment to the Government should not be allowed to contribute to the political parties. This is a means of ensuring that there is no corruption. This is because once you have funded a political party or contributed to it, you will expect favours. So, they have that rule that if you have interest in April 26, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1011 supplying the Government, you should not contribute to any of these parties. I think this is something that we should consider. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other one is the question of people who keep changing from one party to the other. Again, in the Philippines, they have very strong regulation. They passed an Act last year where if any hon. Member crosses the Floor to another party or joins another party, he or she is not only barred from contesting any elections in the successive years but also losses that very seat. We also need to enforce certain regulations to ensure that this frequent change of parties is not allowed. Thank you. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}