Region Four Chairman Clement Corlette is calling on leaders of the PPP/C and PNCR to re-examine the initial arrangements put in place regarding the formation of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC).

Corlette made this appeal in the light of a disagreement which resulted in last Tuesday’s statutory meeting of the council being deferred to next month after a motion floated by PPP/C councillor Kwame McCoy to suspend the standing orders was denied.

During an interview with this newspaper yesterday, the Regional Chairman stated that a motion to suspend the standing orders would have had to be effected, before the motion which McCoy sought to bring to the floor addressing councillors no-confidence in Corlette’s leadership and competence. He cited as an example a recent High Court matter.

McCoy had told Stabroek News that the Regional Chairman refused to allow a motion constituting a matter of urgent public business to be presented by the majority councillors at the meeting. He stated in a release that the motion was presented by him and 13 others but Corlette insisted that he “was not entertaining the motion because it was his prerogative to determine what should be discussed at statutory meetings”.

However, Corlette said that the issue was not seen as being urgent and even if that were the case, the format pursued by McCoy was not in keeping with the rules.

McCoy went on to state that the statutory orders provide for any councillor to present a motion to the floor without prior notice on a matter of urgent public business. He stated that there have been at least three previous occasions on which such motions were entertained by the Regional Democratic Council under Corlette’s chairmanship, a contention Corlette affirmed yesterday.

Corlette told Stabroek News that only 12 councillors represented the PPP/C at the meeting on Tuesday and McCoy’s insistence to pass a motion to have the standing orders suspended was not in keeping with the process for such a move to be effected. As regards the motion to have councillors no-confidence in his leadership addressed, he said McCoy would have had to make a request 96 hours in advance of the meeting, and the clerk would have to be notified of the request.

He said that when McCoy “started to behave disorderly”, he circulated a copy of the motion under the headline of being urgent public importance, which he noted was not seconded .Corlette displayed a copy of the motion circulated on Tuesday to this effect, a copy of which was sent to Stabroek News and which indicated that it was seconded by councillor Desmond Morian.

The Regional Chairman stated that when queries, such as the motion floated by McCoy to express the council’s no-confidence in his leadership, arise, the standing orders provide that the Regional Chairman has the prerogative to determine whether they will be entertained.

He said that even if a motion to this effect is put to the floor, the chairman has the last say. He noted too that what was significant at Tuesday’s meeting was that the vice-chairman of the Region Mohammed Khan stayed until the end of the meeting, after it was dissolved by him and after McCoy left the meeting.

McCoy stated in the release that the Regional Chairman continues to dominate meetings of the council, restrict, suppress and curtail the views of other councillors and rewrite the laws that govern the operations of the local government system.

Corlette refuted this yesterday, stating that he operates as chairman within the confines of the laws governing his office. The Regional Chairman related that he firmly believed that the regional administration of Region Four has the best opportunity to exemplify shared governance. He said the initial arrangements following the 2006 General Elections contributed to this, with the PNCR having 16 councillors; the PPP/C, 15; the Alliance for Change (AFC), 3 and the Justice for all Party (JFAP) 1.

He said, “I think it is time the principals of the parties meet again,” adding, “we cannot sit down and allow Kwame McCoy to bully the council.” He said he could not see any reasons for “the grievances”, as PPP/C councillors have been equally appointed to chair committees within the council, including the Finance and the Education committees. He related that McCoy was head of latter committee until he was relieved of that position for under performance.