–PPP says confused over miscalculation of days

THE opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) on Saturday expressed confusion over the fact that its Member of Parliament (MP) Juan Edghill will not be able to attend Wednesday’s sitting of the National Assembly.

By way of a letter dated January 4, 2018 and addressed to Edghill by the Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs, the MP was informed that he is barred from the January 10 sitting of the House due to what has been described as a mistake in Parliament Office’s calculation of when his suspension started.

The former Minister within the Ministry of Finance under the PPP administration was suspended by Speaker of the National Assembly Dr Barton Scotland for four sittings, after disobeying the Speaker’s instruction to remove himself from the Parliament chamber.
The suspension followed a motion moved by Social Protection Minister and Government Chief Whip Amna Ally to have the House sanction him.

Edghill in December during consideration of the estimates for the Ministry of the Presidency had refused to sit when instructed by the Speaker to do so.
His refusal to follow the Speaker’s instruction during the Committee of Supply had dragged the House into its worst crisis with police ranks stationed at Parliament being summoned to the chamber.

In accordance with Standing order 47 (3), Minister Ally called for Edghill to be suspended from the service of the Assembly for the “next four sittings of this assembly which is December 15.”
Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Barton Scotland, told a news conference in December that it was the first time in the history of Parliament that a member has refused to withdraw from the chamber on the orders of the Speaker.

“The buck stops with the Speaker,” said Dr Scotland, noting that the procedures regarding time for consideration for each agency was discussed prior to the sitting, and it was agreed to during a meeting of the Committee of the Whole.
On the day in question, Dr Scotland indicated to Edghill that he would not allow further discussion beyond the time that was allotted, and the MP was ordered to take his seat, which he refused to do.

OUT OF ORDER
Edghill was ruled “out of order”, and asked to leave. Upon Edghill’s refusal, the Sergeant-at-arms was called upon to take steps, as required, to enforce the Speaker’s order.
However, with Edghill being disallowed from attending Wednesday’s sitting, a statement from the Office of the Leader of the Opposition on Saturday said, it was perplexed as the motion moved by Minister Ally had to have been approved by the Speaker before it was tabled.

The statement said too that the motion was adopted by the government as the first order of business of the adjourned 79th Sitting on December 12.
“The parliamentary opposition was shocked to learn by way of letter dated January 4th, 2018 that the Member Bishop Edghill cannot attend the sitting on January 10th, 2018 due to a mistake made by the Parliament Office in calculating when the suspension commenced,” the statement read.

“The Speaker appears to have assumed the responsibility, not provided for, to interpret a member’s motion. Minister Ally’s motion included a date of when the suspension would come to an end, December 15, 2017. Therefore, there is no doubt or ambiguity as to the commencement of the suspension at the sitting on December 12, 2017,” the statement continued.

The opposition said had the minister’s motion been dateless, then it would have been understandable for the Speaker to interpret when the suspension began and when it ended.
Further, the party has argued that on December 12, Edghill was prevented from entering Parliament Buildings; it was the same day that the MP was arrested for breaching the police barricades.

“Therefore, the suspension was in effect on Tuesday, December 12th,” the statement from the Office of the Leader of the Opposition stated, while stressing that Parliament Office through the Clerk of the National Assembly had written Edghill on the said date indicating his suspension from the 79th sitting of the House.

“This arbitrary interference in the interpretation of a member’s, in this case a Minister’s, motion in keeping with Standing Order 47 (3) (a) is totally unacceptable and smells of crass vindictiveness,” the statement said, while noting that no other parliamentarian has ever received such treatment.

The statement asserted that the Standing Orders are being undermined and that the action of the Speaker amounts to “threats to parliamentary democracy in Guyana”.
The party has assured that it is not going to be daunted by the circumstance.