…mulls tabling counter motion

A PARTNERSHIP for National Unity (APNU) Councillor is currently mulling tabling a motion to quash the no-confidence motion brought against embattled city Town Clerk Royston King by Alliance For Change Councillor Sherod Duncan on the basis that it is flawed.

Stating that the motion submitted by Duncan is highly flawed, Councillor Heston Bostwick said the content of the Order Paper for Monday March 12, 2018 Statutory Meeting will determine whether he will file the motion. That Order Paper is expected to be submitted to Councillors of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council by Friday.

In an interview with the Guyana Chronicle on Wednesday, Bostwick said that he has sought legal advice, external to City Hall, on the matter. According to him, his legal advisers have indicated that it is not necessary for him to submit a motion identifying the flaws within Duncan’s motion, on the basis that the existing flaws in Duncan’s motion should see it not being placed on the Order Paper.

Explaining one of the flaws, Bostwick said that a councillor cannot discipline a local government officer, only a Council as a single body can do such. Bostwick also took umbrage with the manner in which the motion was submitted, contending that it was unethical for Duncan to release the motion to the media just seconds after it was submitted to the town clerk. According to him, Duncan’s action was an infringement on the natural course of justice.

The APNU Councillor pointed out that motions are firstly submitted to the town clerk, in this case, Royston King, and it is the town clerk who checks them against the Standing Orders. If a motion is in keeping with the Standing Orders, Bostwick said the town clerk is duty-bound to place it on the Order Paper, but if it is flawed, he can omit. In both cases, however, Bostwick said the town clerk would be duty-bound to inform the full council of his decision with supporting explanation. At this stage, it is unclear whether King will be placing Duncan’s motion on the Order Paper for Monday’s sitting. Attempts to make contact with him were unsuccessful.However, Bostwick is maintaining that based on advice from “legal luminaries,” the motion should not be entertained.

Division
However, the Guyana Chronicle was told that if the no-confidence motion is allowed, it is unlikely that Bostwick’s motion will receive the support from of some of his coalition colleagues, especially those from the People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) arm of the coalition. A reliable source close to the PNC/R told the Guyana Chronicle that some party members are dissatisfied with King’s performance. It is the belief of this source, who is also a long-standing City Councillor, that King’s actions will cost the party when Local Government Elections are held later this year. But King seems to be unmoved by the motion of his critics. One day after the motion was filed by Duncan, he told reporters that the motion will not succeed as it represents a personal attack on him. “I am unbothered, because if you look at the contents of the motion, you will see that all the things Duncan has filed against me are the things that actually improved the city,” King told reporters.
Duncan’s motion, which was seconded by Deputy Mayor Lionel Jaikarran, cites a number of shortcomings on the part of King and will be tabled at the next statutory meeting on March 12.

However, King believes that he has the support of the majority of city councillors. “I enjoy the confidence of the majority of councillors, and I also enjoy the confidence of the citizens of Georgetown,” he said. “And I am very positive about that.”
The town clerk made it clear that the motion cannot advance beyond where it is, as he has been fulfilling his mandate as town clerk.

“My own view is that the motion will go no place, because all I am doing is getting my job done. Citizens are paying me to do my job, and I am getting it done,” said King, who has been the subject of much controversy over the past few months.