House of Keys members Dr Alex Allinson and Dr Michelle Haywood represented Tynwald at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) recent small branches workshop in Maldives.

Held under the theme of ‘Strong and Independent Parliaments in Small Jurisdictions’ the event brought together delegates from some of the smallest legislatures across the Commonwealth to hear from political and policy experts and legislators.

Sessions focused on separation of powers, the law-making process, accountability and parliamentary financial oversight.

Opening the workshop, the chair of the CPA Small Branches network Valerie Woods from Belize said: ‘The ideas, collaboration and leadership we bring together here have the power to shape strong, resilient parliaments across the Commonwealth.

‘The CPA Small Branches aims to empower small parliaments to overcome national and global challenges through cooperation, advocacy and the strengthening of parliamentary democracy and good governance.’

At the end of the programme, delegates took part in a group exercise focused on strengthening parliamentary oversight, where they had the opportunity to put into practice the principles and lessons they had learned throughout the workshop.

Reflecting on the workshop Dr Allinson said: ‘I am very grateful to the Maldives Parliament and CPA for hosting such a valuable workshop where members of parliaments from around the world met to discuss common challenges, the different ways we organise to represent our peoples and how together we can be stronger as part of the Commonwealth family.’

Dr Haywood added: ‘I thank the Tynwald CPA executive committee for selecting me to attend this workshop. Although there was quite a variation in the length of parliamentary service among the various delegates, we all brought our experiences to share, gained valuable knowledge and explored how parliamentarians could better hold governments to account.

‘I look forward to reporting back to Tynwald Members about the workshop and future possible changes to how we operate.’

All related costs will be published on the Tynwald website in due course.