…PNCR withholds support
THE National Assembly yesterday approved a Motion for the Members of Parliament to work through the August recess with a view to completing outstanding work in relation to legislation now being tabled and those still in select committees. The Government brought the Motion to the House, one week before the scheduled commencement of the parliamentary recess. However, the main Opposition withheld their support for the Motion, saying that Government had enough time to complete all of the work on its parliamentary agenda. They accused the Government of bad management and for not fully utilizing the Parliamentary Management Committee to effectively plan the parliamentary agenda.
Tabling the Motion, Prime Minister Sam Hinds said the decision to seek a postponement of the parliamentary recess was not one that the Government took lightly.
“But we have a number of bills which have been long in preparation. It would be a great loss if we do not conclude them,” the PM said.
Here he spoke of the Telecommunications Bill which was also tabled yesterday and which the Government hopes to debate and pass by next week. “We want to also pass the Access to Information Bill,” Prime Minister Hinds said.
He said that this is not an entirely new development as, in the past, the recess has been postponed. He said it is something that the Government will do if it deems the situation necessary.
“This is in no way an extension of this period of Government. [The Parliament] will dissolve on September 27, 2011. [The Motion] will allow us to conclude some very important legislation,” Hinds said.
Speaking after the PM, Leader of the Opposition and of the PNCR-1G, Mr. Robert Corbin, said his party totally rejects “this highhandedness and dictatorial behaviour” and vowed not to support it.
“If it is necessary and circumstances demand that the Standing Orders be suspended one expects consultation or a reason as to why this unprecedented step is needed. The attempt by the Government to bring this Motion…is an abuse of the process,” said Corbin.
The Opposition Leader said the Government had five years to bring the matters it now wants to bring by delaying the recess. He said that while the PNCR-1G will observe the recess for August 10, the party’s members will show up for business if the matters being dealt with are of national importance.
Ms. Gail Teixeira, Presidential Adviser on Governance said postponement of the Parliamentary recess is not an extension of the Parliament. She explained that the Motion was neither unconstitutional nor contrary to the Standing Orders of the National Assembly. “All this does is allow us to meet during the recess,” Teixeira said.
She debunked the PNCR-1G’s statement that there was no consultation on the issue. “The comment that we don’t consult is a fallacy,” Teixeira declared.
She said that bills take time to draft and bring to the National Assembly. Further, she said the committees of the Parliament may also take some time to get through all of their bills. She cited an example where she said the telecoms Bill was in draft for two years since consultation with the relevant stakeholders had to take place.
Further, she said Government agreed to extend the period for the submission of comments for the Access to Information Special Select Committee to August 10. Teixeira said that she and PNCR Chief Whip Lance Carberry were in constant contact thus nullifying the argument that the PNCR did not know of Government’s intension to bring the Motion seeking to work through the Parliamentary recess.
She said, “We cannot get more investments in the country if we do not have enough connectivity,” speaking of the need to get the Telecommunications Bill and the Public Utilities Commission (Amendment) Act, both of which seek to bring further liberalization to the telecommunications sector.
“The issues that the PNCR-1G are trying to raise are smokescreens,” Teixeira said, citing that the two telecoms related Bills to which she referred would be debated next Thursday.
Government MP, Attorney General Charles Ramson, chided the members of the Opposition for not being cooperative in their non-support of the Motion. He said that, in spite of this behaviour, they still turn up for their salaries.
Ramson said that this being the case they should turn up to work during the recess period since he (Ramson) has “a lot of work for them to complete.”
Also speaking on the Motion were Alliance for Change’s (AFC) Sheila Holder, PNCR-1G members Aubrey Norton and Basil Williams, all of whom withheld their support for the Motion.