The spirit of Parliament

TIMES INT'L

Now that a week has passed since the President prorogued Parliament, the major source of the  Opposition’s angst appears to be their claim that the President “didn’t play fair”.

While they had to concede that the power of prorogation is a Constitutional prerogative conferred on the President, they are making all sorts of arguments as to why he ought not to have exercised it. He violated the “spirit of Parliament”. But the arguments all boil down to the issue of fairness – ultimately a moral question.

But as with all such questions, the context in which the issue is played out is crucial in determining what is “fair”. The institution of Parliament evolved over many centuries in England as the Monarchy was forced to concede more and more powers to the representatives of the people. But those powers did not just devolve to “the Legislature”, but to that body AND the Cabinet.

The power to summon, prorogue and dissolve Parliament, however, has been retained in all Westminster-derived governance systems

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