-calls Forde’s application ‘premature’

THE Full Court on Friday denied an application by Roysdale Forde, S.C., challenging the High Court’s refusal to grant an interim conservatory order to allow eight Opposition Members of Parliament who have been suspended, to attend sittings of the National Assembly, and to receive their salaries.

This is according to a press release issued by the Attorney General’s chambers shortly after the conclusion of the matter which was heard by Justices Jo-Ann Barlow and Sandil Kissoon
The release stated that Justice Barlow, in delivering the decision of the Full Court, said that “the appeal was ‘premature’, given that no decision was made by the High Court below that can properly be made the subject of an appeal. In the circumstances the Full Court ruled that the Orders requested by Roysdale Forde SC MP are refused.”

It added that the effect of this decision by the Full Court is that the suspension of the Opposition Members of Parliament, along with the suspension of their salaries by the National Assembly, stands until the determination of the matter before Justice Damone Younge in the High Court.

The suspended MPs are Opposition Chief Whip Christopher Jones, Sherod Duncan, Natasha Singh-Lewis, Annette Ferguson, Vinceroy Jordan, Tabitha Sarabo-Halley, Ganesh Mahipaul, and Maureen Philadelphia.
Forde had sought several conservatory orders and injunctions which Justice Younge declined to grant since she had to first determine if she had jurisdiction to hear the case.

The substantive case before Younge comes up on November 1, for hearing on the issue of jurisdiction. The court will also hear an application filed by Attorney-General Anil Nandlall, S.C., for the case to be dismissed.
On December 29, during the debate on the Natural Resources Fund Bill, chaos broke out at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), Liliendaal, where the National Assembly was sitting. The Opposition MPs were at the time attempting to prevent Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, from presenting his debate for the Natural Resource Bill.

During the commotion, MP Ferguson attempted to steal the Speaker’s Mace, and was joined by some of her other colleagues.
A motion tabled by Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Gail Teixeira was passed in the National Assembly in January 2022 for the eight elected officials to be referred to the Privileges Committee for their actions.

The Privileges Committee later presented a report that recommended that MPs Ferguson, Philadelphia and Jordan be suspended for six consecutive Sittings for committing serious violations in removing the Parliamentary Mace from its rightful position.

The report also recommended that Sarabo-Halley be suspended for six consecutive sittings, while it recommended that Jones, Duncan, Singh-Lewis and Mahipaul be suspended from four consecutive Sittings.
The suspended MPs later filed a court matter challenging the disciplinary action. In addition to the Attorney General, the Speaker of the National Assembly Manzoor Nadir and the Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs were named as defendants.