All the bills passed by the National Assembly last year received President Bharrat Jagdeo’s assent, according to Speaker Ralph Ramkarran.
In previous years, President Jagdeo had withheld his assent on a number of bills without giving a reason to the National Assembly, in what some members of the bar considered a breach of the constitution. His failure to give assent to 10 bills in 2006, forced the government to recommit them as they lapsed.
Prior to last Thursday’s sitting of the National Assembly, 29 bills were passed and 36 motions approved by the House during 2010. Five bills were sent to special select committees from the mid-2009 and they are still under consideration. Those are: the Local Government (Amendment) Bill 2009, the Fiscal Transfers Bill 2009, the Municipal and District Councils (Amendment) Bill 2009, the Custody, Contact, Guardianship and Maintenance Bill 2009 and the Childcare and Development Services Bill 2009. The Custody, Contact, Guardianship and Maintenance Bill 2009 select committee is the only one meeting to date.
A total of twenty-five (25) bills were introduced in the House during the period under review, Ramkarran said.
Meanwhile, of the 40 motions tabled, 14 were tabled in the House by the government, three were in the name of opposition members and 19 were committee motions. Four motions remain outstanding on the Order Paper, Ramkarran said.
The outstanding motions relate to Freedom of Information legislation, broadcast legislation, campaign financing for political parties and issues relating to staffing at the Audit Office and the criminal responsibilities of HIV/AIDS infected individuals.
The last motion was referred to a special select committee in July and it is yet to meet, Ramkarran said.
He also reported that 68 papers and reports were laid in the House during 2010. These, he said, included annual reports, loan agreements and other policy documents submitted by government ministries and departments.
Seventeen (17) reports, including periodic reports, were submitted by parliamentary committees.
Regarding “Questions on Notice,” forty-four questions (33 written and 11 oral) were answered in the Assembly. All questions submitted to the Assembly were answered, the Speaker said. Eight senior government officials made presentations before the Sectoral Committees on Foreign Relations, Social Services, Economic Services and Natural Resources.
Ramkarran said too that as a result of the work done by the Committee on Appointment, the Rights of the Child Commission, the Women and Gender Equality Commission and the Indigenous peoples Com-mission were established.
