Agreement between the two opposition parties in Parliament is crucial if they are to succeed in their legislative agenda and they are working together but the limited number of draftspersons in Guyana could hobble their progress.
Attorney-General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall had told Stabroek News that it is not part of the mandate of the AG’s Chambers to draft bills for anyone other than the government. Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman has said that providing all the parties in Parliament with legislative assistance and support staff and even if need be, office space so that they can have research assistance and persons to help is critical.
One of the recommendations contained in the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s ‘Benchmarks for Democratic Legislatures of the Caribbean, Americas and Atlantic Region’ is that “The Legislature shall provide adequate resources for Private or Independent Members to draft legislation or amendments to legislation.”
Stabroek News was told that currently there is only one legal draftsman at the AG Chambers and based on Nandlall’s statement, he would not be available to Opposition MPs.
Nevertheless, the opposition parties, who combined hold a one-seat majority in the National Assembly, are working on legislation to bring to the House. AFC Chairman, Khemraj Ramjattan told Stabroek News yesterday that he has completed his Bill to repeal the controversial Former President’s (Benefits and Other Facilities) Act but based on talks with APNU and depending on the outcome of an APNU motion on the same Act, it may have to be changed to a Bill to amend the Act rather than one that would repeal it.
The other pieces of legislation that the AFC hopes to bring to the House are “works in progress” and he needs to have some expert guidance on those, he said. Ramjattan indicated that he would have liked to have the assistance of the legal draftsman but noted Nandlall’s statement and citing the time and effort in drafting laws, said that they will probably have to pay another lawyer to assist.
He said that they are learning as they go along and stressed that agreement between the parties is critical. “We’ll have to talk to the APNU about the amendment. I don’t want to do something and then they don’t like it,” he said. “Sometimes my idea of what should be in the law is not something APNU necessarily might like.”
APNU has laid several motions in Parliament and Ramjattan said that they would have to wait on the outcome to proceed. “We have to be a little more inclusive in drafting our amendments,” he added.
Asked about Trotman’s statement, he said that the opposition could, as a unit, ask the National Assembly for drafting help but questioned “what does it mean in a concrete form?” He said that this issue has not been discussed but would be done shortly.
However, he pointed out that at this point, funding could be an issue since the PPP/C might not want to support provisions to pay for legislative assistance for the Opposition. “It will be a troublesome matter,” he said. Ramjattan noted that the Opposition could seek to tap into the Contingencies Fund to pay for this.
Alternatively, it would be good if one of the donor agencies could provide support in this regard, he said.
