CLERK of the National Assembly, Mr. Sherlock Isaacs on Wednesday refused the request from the House Speaker, Mr. Raphael Trotman to call a sitting of the Assembly on November 6. 

However, the Speaker contends that he is not bound by the advice of the Clerk. “I am not restricted to advice of the Clerk. I am not bound by his advice. He cannot instruct me, he can advise me,” Trotman said.
He further explained that he, like the Clerk, seeks advice from regional and international counterparts, as well as other local stakeholders, before making decisions.
The House went into recess on August 10 and came out of recess on October 10. Since, there have been repeated calls from the Alliance for Change (AFC) for an early sitting. The hot-button issue when the House reconvenes is the AFC-sponsored no-confidence motion, against the current Administration.
However, there has been a difference of opinions as to where the power resides when it comes to calling a sitting of the House. The National Assembly’s Clerk, in refusing the Speaker’s request for a November 6 sitting, make it clear that the power to call a sitting resides with the Central Government.

CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS
The Speaker, on the other hand, maintains his position that the National Assembly must resume sittings and cannot be bound by the “whims of the Executive branch” to have to await its consent before meeting.
He said, “Such an interpretation flies in the face of the doctrine of separation of powers, and the constitutional right of the elected representatives to meet to perform their functions.
“…as a majority of Members have indicated their desire for the National Assembly to meet, the nation is confronted with … we have a clear and unvarnished constitutional crisis on our hands, and all stakeholders will have to work together to resolve it.”
Standing Order 8 addressed the grounds on which sittings are called and states clearly where the authority to call such a sitting lies.
The ‘Ordinary Sitting of the Assembly’ is addressed in Standing Order 8 (1), which says: “(1) Save as otherwise provided by the Constitution or resolved by the Assembly upon a motion moved by a Minister, the Assembly may sit every day except Saturdays and Sundays and, unless the Assembly otherwise decide, every adjournment of the Assembly shall be to the next Sitting day.”
Standing Order 8 (2), ‘Sitting convened at the discretion of the Speaker’, adds that: “(2) If, during an adjournment of the Assembly, it is represented to the Speaker by the Government, or the Speaker is of the opinion, that the public interest requires that the Assembly should meet on a day earlier than that to which it stands adjourned, the Speaker may give notice accordingly and the Assembly shall meet at the time stated in such notice. The Clerk shall as soon as possible inform each Member in writing, or telegram or by appropriate electronic means of any such earlier meeting.”
On that note, when asked by a staff reporter to explain his contention of a “constitutional crisis”, Trotman stated that if the National Assembly wants to meet but is constrained by the Government, there is a crisis.
“Members want to meet…members have written to me to say that they want to meet, that is where the problem is. If members want to meet and cannot meet, that is a problem,” he said.

USUALLY A NOVEMBER SITTING
Noteworthy, too, is the fact that a sitting as soon as the House comes out of recess is not the precedent, seen in previous years.
This was confirmed by the Clerk of the National Assembly, on Wednesday, who stated that the sittings in the last several years after the recess are usually held in November.
The Speaker also acknowledged this fact.
Asked what would be his next move, Trotman declined to answer in detail. “I am considering my next move. I am looking at all the options,” he said.
The House has not met since July 10, prior to going into recess.