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Trotman indicated to this publication that the parties “had indicated to me what they want to do with the motion and they ask that we do deliberate on it after budget.”
No date has been set for the next meeting of the Committee of Privileges, but according to Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, rather than the opposition accept that it has made a mistake “they continue to exacerbate the situation by clinging to an issue that is dead.”
Nandlall told the Guyana Chronicle yesterday that there is nothing left for the Committee of Privileges to determine regarding a Member of Parliament’s right to speak in the House.
“In my respectful view, there is nothing to sort out…,” the AG maintained.
Nandlall, who also serves as legal advisor to the government, reminded that the issue at heart is a matter of law for which Chief Justice (ag), Ian Chang, has already ruled twice.
“He has said abundantly clearly, that question of whether[a]Member of the National Assembly can or cannot speak is a question of law.”
The Minister of Legal Affairs said that it is pellucid that “the court is the final arbitrator on matters of law.”
Nandlall reminded that the court has already ruled that Rohee cannot be prevented from speaking, and “that brings[the] matter to an end.”
The Legal Affairs Minister said, too, that “in addition to that, we have a Ruling from the Speaker in which the Speaker admits that his initial gag order was wrong and that a MP has a right to speak.”
Nandlall argues that “the concatenation of the CJ’s ruling and the Speaker’s ruling brings this matter absolutely and conclusively to an abrupt end…there is nothing that is left to be determined by the Committee of Privileges.”
The Attorney General said that the opposition has invested “tremendous political capital on the issue and they have lost from every front.”
He reminded of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) and said they were unable to “implicate Rohee in the court”, as well as the fact that “… they lost in Parliament too.”
