He said during his appearance before the ongoing Commission of Inquiry on Wednesday that it is about the Opposition being able to effectively carry out its mandate.

“I want to make this clear; it is not about me, but about the position, not the person, the institution. We are a small society, these things can tend to go a certain way. I believe we need to have an Office of the Leader of the Opposition because it is not just about the Leader of the Opposition but the Opposition in general,” he remarked.

He explained that there is more work that needs to be undertaken apart from nominating persons for certain commissions or statutory boards.

“The Office of the Opposition has a responsibility to ensure that we hold the government to account, and to do that, you need the necessary support, you need the necessary assistance, technical, legal, and otherwise to be able to do that. For instance, there is a provision in the Standing Orders where members could call a Private Member’s Bill. In order to bring a Private Member’s Bill you need technical and policy writing support; you also need the legal support to be able to bring a converse Bill.”

Hon. Penn further said in the event that the Opposition shares a different view to government’s on a piece of legislation, “it will be good to put that view in writing in the form of a legislation, and we can bring a Private Member’s Bill to the House and have it debated for the public, but you need the technical support, you need the legal support to be able to do that.”