Parliament will meet ‘in the near future’ – President
President Donald Ramotar
President Donald Ramotar

THE Government of Guyana has “absolutely no interest” in delaying a sitting of the National Assembly, which came out of recess on October 10.
This was the assurance given by President Donald Ramotar, who made it clear that the House will meet “in the near future.”

Dr Roger Luncheon
Dr Roger Luncheon

At the time his remarks were made, Mr. Ramotar was delivering the feature address at the 2014 National Toshaos Conference, held at the Guyana International Conference Centre, Liliendaal.
He said, “They (the combined Opposition parties) are talking now about the Parliament as if we don’t want to call the Parliament. Well that will go fundamentally against everything that we stand for.”
According to the Head of State, not having an immediate sitting after the recess is not a strange occurrence.
“They behave as if this is something strange that the recess is finished in October and the Parliament has not met as yet. For years the Parliament was called in November. There are previous years that you can go to and see historically that the Parliament was called later than they are talking about,” he said.
This fact was confirmed by the Clerk of the National Assembly, Mr. Sherlock Isaacs. “This is not new, not as far as I am aware,” he told the Guyana Chronicle yesterday.
FUNDAMENTALLY INCONSISTENT
Additionally, The Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon, addressed the issue of a sitting of the House, yesterday, at his weekly post-cabinet news conference.
“A decision will be made soon, before the end of this week,” he promised.
Dr. Luncheon also addressed the fact that the House Speaker, Mr. Raphael Trotman, has requested that the Clerk of the National Assembly make arrangements for a November 6 sitting.
The Speaker’s intentions were expressed in a letter to the Clerk of the National Assembly, which was copied to the House’s Chief Whips – A Partnership for National Unity’s (APNU) Amna Ally and Government’s Gail Teixeira. A similar letter has also been sent to the Leader of Government Business, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds; Leader of the Opposition, Brig. (rtd.) David A. Granger; and Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan. Additionally, in terms of the Order Paper for the sitting, Trotman expressed the view that the agenda as of July 10, 2014 is the agenda that the House should resume with, together with any additional matters that have arisen during the recess, and subject, of course, to the requisite period of notice being observed
However, the HPS contends that this move is “profoundly inconsistent” with parliamentary fundamentals. “Cabinet noted the inconsistencies of the Speaker’s positions of the matter of convening Parliament,” Dr. Luncheon said.
The HPS stated too that the pronouncements made by the Speaker have effectively opened him up for criticisms.
He said, “The Speaker is on record to have adopted different positions when asked to pronounce on the topic of convening Parliament.
“The Speaker is on record recognising the Government’s unique power to convene. The Speaker, in abandoning those fundamentals indeed had opened himself to significant criticisms about his application about the parliamentary rules and regulations.”
Additionally, Dr. Luncheon made it clear that setting a date for a meeting of the House is the “preserve” of Central Government.

Sherlock Isaacs
Sherlock Isaacs

‘HOT-BUTTON’ ISSUE
The “hot-button” issue up for consideration in the National Assembly, when it is re-convened, is the AFC-sponsored no-confidence motion against the current Administration.
The first inkling the public had that the AFC planned moving a no-confidence motion against the Government was back in mid-June, when party Vice-Chairman Mr. Moses Nagamootoo hinted at it.
He did so by way of an article published in the Stabroek News and headlined, “AFC considering no-confidence motion against Gov’t.” He, however, acknowledged that to do so would require the support of the main Opposition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU).
The AFC’s position was strengthened on Tuesday, August 5, when APNU Leader Brigadier (rtd.) David Granger publicly confirmed that his party was fully behind the no-confidence motion.
The first page of the Motion reads: “Be it resolved that this National Assembly has no confidence in the Government.” It was seconded by AFC executive member and Member of Parliament (MP), Mrs. Cathy Hughes.
As stated in Section 106 (6) of the Constitution: “The Cabinet and President shall resign if the Government is defeated by the vote of the majority of all Members of the National Assembly on a vote of confidence.”
This is made even clearer in Section 106 (7), which states: “Notwithstanding its defeat, the Government shall remain in office, and shall hold an election within three months or such longer period as the National Assembly shall, by resolution supported by no less than two-thirds of all elected members of the National Assembly, (approve); and shall resign after a new President takes the oath of office following the election.”
Prior to the House going into recess on August 10, there had been no sitting of the house since the first week in July.

(By Vanessa Narine )

 

 

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