Speaker: Security Oversight Committee to meet when House reconvenes
Minister of Governance, Raphael Trotman
Minister of Governance, Raphael Trotman

SPEAKER of the National Assembly, Mr. Raphael Trotman, earlier this month committed to convening the long overdue first meeting of the Parliamentary Security Oversight Committee before the National Assembly goes into recess on August 8.

He however told the Guyana Chronicle yesterday that this will not be possible. “We are in a bit of a flux right now,” he said, “because at the last sitting, the House was adjourned to a date to be fixed, and we go into our official recess on August 8.”
Not willing to let the matter rest there, he said, “I rather suspect that it will be convened when we come out of recess, because it might be a bit too much to push, to have the Committee meet before we go into recess.”
He said that prior the recess, he expects to meet with the Parliamentary Management Committee, at which forum the issue of convening the first meeting of the Parliamentary Security Oversight Committee will be addressed.
“I am hoping to have a meeting of the Parliamentary Management Committee, where I will bring it up, because I feel it is something that must be done. But in the meantime, the PNCR has a Congress, and there are a number of other things happening, which is why nothing has happened yet,” the Speaker said.
The contention of several Government Members of Parliament (MPs) is that the Opposition is avoiding a meeting because the Chair has to be a Government MP.
Former Attorney-General, Mr. Doodnauth Singh had, in 2009, tabled the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2009 in the National Assembly. The Bill was intended to amend the Constitution by inserting a new Article 119 D, providing for the establishment of a Standing Committee called the ‘Parliamentary Oversight Committee on the Security Sector’, which would have responsibility for the policies and administration of the country’s Disciplined Services.
The move was in keeping with an agreement made by National Stakeholders during security consultations as recent as last March. The original recommendation was made by a Special Select Committee reviewing the report of the Disciplined Forces Commission. The issue had also been the subject of discussion at the level of the Parliamentary Management Committee.
Since the commencement of the 10th Parliament, the combined Opposition has posed numerous questions on the security sector, and moved a few Motions demanding the appointment of Commissions of Inquiry (COIs) to investigate alleged breaches in the sector.
There are currently four sectoral committees,responsible for economic services, social services, natural resources and foreign relations.

(Vanessa Narine)

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