A MEETING was held recently to look at the new special select committees that are being set up, and the Administration has requested that the composition of the committees addressing Government Bills should have parity and that it (Government) chairs these said committees.

According to Presidential Advisor on Governance, Ms. Gail Teixeira, the Government put forward Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Mr. Ganga Persaud as its nominee to chair the select committee addressing the four Local Government Bills while the Opposition put forward Basil Williams.
“We have made it very clear to the Opposition that we are living with Parliamentary Parties that are majority, controlled by the Opposition, but we feel that when it comes to Government Bills, the compromise that government is offering of parity and chairmanship is reasonable, practical and correct,” she told reporters yesterday.
Teixeira said the approach that the Opposition has and continues to take can lead to some very difficult situations; whereby were a Government Bill to be amended by majority and not by agreement in committee, it can result in the Bill becoming stagnant on the agenda.
She explained that only a Minister can table a Bill in the House and as such, if that Minister does not agree with amendments that the Opposition has ‘ramrodded’ through the House, the Bill will be left hanging in the balance.
She added that, “these are situations that we are trying to pre-empt and prevent from happening in the House, but the Opposition appears to be unwilling to see the righteousness in such approaches, and to reduce the complications that we face in the House.”