Dear Editor,
It appears as if Cabinet is openly challenging Speaker Ralph Ramkarran’s ruling on the Peoples National Congress Reform debt ceiling motion.
Cabinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon, stated Cabinet’s position as follows:
“The opposition to the motion was not an opposition to a feeling being set or parliament being the authority within which that would be done. The point that the minister made was that our constitution, law, parliamentary democracies, custom and practice exclusively provided for the government to introduce such legislation and not any member or parties in parliament.” He cited this as the sole reason government rejected the PNCR motion and declared that cabinet was taken aback by the “speaker’s fundamentally flawed decision.”
I am confused by Cabinet’s position as presented in Dr. Luncheon’s statement: if parliament is the foremost authority on such matters how could it deal with them fairly if only the government could introduce such legislation? I believe that Mr Ramkarran has an intimate acquaintance with Guyana’s constitution and is well versed in the law and customs and practices of parliamentary democracy. Moreover, he consulted several experts on parliamentary procedures, including Attorney General Doodnauth Singh, before making his ruling. Who is the legal luminary that is advising Cabinet?
If Mr Ramkarran needs a recent precedent from a functioning parliamentary democracy I would point him to a recent bill passed by the federal parliament of Canada. As reported by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on March 11, 2008, “the Liberal-sponsored bill would allow parents to contribute up to $5,000 a year for each child to a Registered Educational Savings Plan and deduct the amount from their income taxes.
Opposition parties passed the private member’s bill last week and it is now before the Senate.” This bill was introduced by an opposition member of parliament, allowed by the Speaker of the Canadian federal parliament and passed against the wishes of the governing party.
Yours faithfully,
Jang B. Singh
