SPEAKER of the National Assembly, Mr. Raphael Trotman on Friday invited a Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) delegation to engage all sides, in the interest of moving past the act of prorogation.

Trotman, in a letter to the effect, wrote: “The Guyana Parliament, as a Member of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, urges you to use your good offices, together with the entire weight of the Association, to intervene so that we could have a return to normalcy.
“To this end, I invite you to send a delegation to Guyana to engage all sides of this disagreement, so that this unhealthy situation may be brought to a speedy and peaceful end.”

However, at a news conference Friday, President Donald Ramotar made it clear that while he is not opposed to the idea, his preference is that matters be dealt with in-house first.
At the Office of the President, he told media operatives, “I am not opposed to anything of this nature, but my preference… I think it would be good for us, as Guyanese, to sit down and deal with our issues.
“…I think we should try ourselves first to try and deal with some of these issues before we jump to see if we need assistance. I would say let us give ourselves a chance to try to resolve our problems. I am not ruling out these things.”

NO GOOD
Meanwhile, Leader of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), has since noted that an intermediary will do “no good” in the current circumstances.
“I don’t know if an intermediary will do any good. There is no need for intermediary. As I said, we met with the President about four times this year and the President knows very well what needs to be done,” he said at a press conference last Friday.
According to him, APNU has met with the ruling People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) team “at least” four times this year so far.
On that note, he reiterated that the Partnership is still committed to the Alliance for Change’s (AFC) no-confidence motion.
“We are still committed to the no-confidence motion and when we resume, Mr. Ramotar will find that the same jumbie that he has been running away from will greet him at the National Assembly,” Granger said.

CPA INFORMED
The House Speaker’s invitation was made via letter, in which he informed the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) of President Ramotar’s decision to prorogue Parliament.
The President, on Monday, announced in an address to the nation that he had issued a proclamation to prorogue Parliament, which essentially means that the current session is suspended up to a maximum of six months – a move that is provided for in Section 70 (1) of Guyana’s Constitution.
In Trotman’s letter, dated November 14, 2014 and addressed to Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma, he stated that while President Ramotar’s move is provided for in the Guyana Constitution, such power could never have been intended to be used arbitrarily.
“Undoubtedly, Articles 69 and 70 (1) of the Guyana Constitution give the President the authority to prorogue the Parliament. However, the framers of our Constitution could never have intended that such authority would be used arbitrarily, or as a shield by a minority Government against the majority of the elected Members of Parliament,” he said.
The House Speaker highlighted that the President had indicated on November 4, 2014 that he would prorogue Parliament, and on Monday, November 10, the Head of State made good on his promise.
“Indeed, His Excellency made good on this stated intention by arbitrarily proroguing Parliament on Monday, November 10, 2014; ironically, on the very day named by him for the sittings of the House to be resumed,” he said.

IMPACT OF PROROGATION
The effect of ending a session by prorogation is to terminate business. Members are released from their parliamentary duties until Parliament is next summoned, and all unfinished business is dropped from or “dies” on the Order Paper — the National Assembly’s agenda; and all committees lose their power to transact business, providing a fresh start for the next session. No committee can sit during a prorogation. Bills which have not received presidential assent before prorogation are “entirely terminated” and in order to be proceeded with in the new session, must be reintroduced as if they had never existed.

As a result of this prorogation, the AFC’s no-confidence motion was not considered. The main Opposition, APNU, had prior to last Monday, signaled its intent to support the push through of the motion.
Had it not been for the proclamation to prorogue Parliament, if the no-confidence motion was passed, Guyana would have been headed to general elections within three months.
According to the Head of State, the move to prorogation was intended to pave the way for greater dialogue among political parties, while keeping the 10th Parliament alive.
However, President Ramotar has made it clear that if these efforts prove futile, there will be a move to fresh general elections.

GRIDLOCK
The Speaker of the National Assembly also pointed out there is presently a gridlock in the House, as the majority of Members of the National Assembly are indicating that there will be no dialogue with the Executive unless or until there is revocation of the prorogation and a resumption of sittings of the National Assembly.
“On the other hand, His Excellency, the President, has indicated publicly that he is prepared to re-convene the Parliament if accommodations could be arrived at; presumably after dialogue,” he said.
Trotman decried the act of prorogation as a means to pre-empt the no-confidence motion.
“This, I believe, is a violation of the spirit of the Constitution, as it allows the Executive the unbridled ability to frustrate and prevent the work of the National Assembly,” he said.
Additionally, Trotman, on September 25, 2014, wrote to Dr. William Shija, the former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, to inform him that a motion of no-confidence was presented against the Government of Guyana, and requested support from the Secretariat as Guyana navigates unprecedented waters.
He has also since been in contact with Mr. Tafawa Williams, Adviser in the Political Affairs Division of that Secretariat.
His latest letter was copied to the CPA acting Secretary-General Mr. Joe Omordion, the Chairperson of the CPA Caribbean, and the Speaker of the House of Assembly of the British Virgin Islands (BVI), Ingrid Moses-Scatliffe.