Six months into the 10th Parliament, the first major piece of legislation—the Telecommunications Bill—will be tabled in the National Assembly by the Alliance For Change (AFC) and this will be done within two weeks.
The ruling PPP/C has not laid any major Bill in the House since the opening of Parliament in January and will require opposition support for the passage of any of its Bills since the combined opposition—AFC and APNU—hold an unprecedented one seat majority in the National Assembly. The President will then have to assent to any Bills passed. The passage of the Budget was stormy and cuts by the opposition have landed in court.
The main opposition, APNU, has tabled some motions and leader David Granger told the Sunday Stabroek yesterday that in relation to Bills, the coalition is currently drafting two: one that would provide for the autonomy of the National Assembly; and the other would amend the controversial Former President’s (Benefits and Other Facilities) Act 2009. Granger said that these two pieces of legislation will be tabled before the parliamentary recess begins on August 10. He stressed, however, that the party is focusing on establishing a framework for good governance and financial prudence. “Before we move ahead on a flawed system, we have to correct that system,” he said.
AFC Chairman Khemraj Ramjattan told the Sunday Stabroek that the AFC plans to table its Telecommuni-cations Bill either this week or next week. Talks with the other political parties are ongoing on additional pieces of legislation, he said.
The Telecommunications Bill will be the first of several priority pieces of legislation that the AFC wants to see passed by the National Assembly in the near term. The party also wants to repeal the Former President’s (Benefits and Other Facilities) Act 2009, amend the Broadcasting Act, and see the Local Government reform bills be brought to the House. Other Bills mentioned by Ramjattan previously were the amendment of the Fiscal Management and Accountabi-lity Act, so that the minister can be charged for any wrongdoing; changing the structure of the Guyana Elections Commission; and amending of the Freedom of Information Act to give it the fuller provisions originally included in the Bill taken to the National Assembly by AFC leader, Raphael Trotman, before the government introduced and passed its own.
Ramjattan said that the AFC has held discussions with telecommunications companies, Guyana Telephone and Telegraph and Digicel, and their concerns have been incorporated into the legislation. Government, at the ending of the 9th Parliament last year, failed to deliver on its promise to liberalise the telecommunications sector during the life of that parliamentary session, by deferring the two bills it said was critical to the process. The Telecommunications Bill 2011 and the Public Utilities Commission (Amendment) Bill 2011 had been sent to a Special Select Committee for review but then the government decided not to proceed with passage of the Bills.
Ramjattan said that the AFC Bill, which will be a private members bill, will essentially be like the one withdrawn by government but the concerns of the telecommunications companies have been heard and addressed. Ramjattan noted that the government Bill identified some licencees and he said that while the AFC does not mind this, “we would like to see their qualifications.”
The AFC holds seven seats in the House and would need the support of APNU or the PPP/C for the Bill to be passed and Ramjattan said that while they have not spoken to APNU about the Telecommunications Bill, the coalition knows their position on the issue. Granger said that while the AFC has not approached APNU on the issue as yet, they are likely to give favourable consideration to the Bill. The two parties have similar but not identical agendas, he noted.
‘Reasonable benefits’
In relation to the other Bills, Ramjattan said that the AFC has laid out its proposal for the Former President’s (Benefits and Other Facilities) Act 2009. While the AFC wants the legislation repealed, Ramjattan has told Stabroek News that the AFC want consensus on this with APNU since the government opposes any interference with the Bill. Ramjattan has said that he completed his repeal Bill 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.
Granger told the Sunday Stabroek yesterday that APNU has consulted with its lawyers and received advice on amendments to the Benefits Act and is working on redrafting some of the proposals. “We’re not trying to deprive the president of reasonable benefits,” he said, adding that the current Act provides for lavish benefits and there is no cap on these and this is what they want to see changed. He said that while no AFC proposals have been put before APNU, “we are favourably disposed to working with” the party on their issues.
In relation to the Bill to provide for the autonomy of the National Assembly, Granger said that currently, it is essentially functioning as a department of the Office of the President. He noted the Attorney-General’s resort to the High Court on the budget cuts, describing it as circumscribing the authority of the National Assembly. He declined further comment on the Bills, saying that drafting is still ongoing but stressed that they intend to table the two bills before the parliamentary recess.
Granger said that APNU is concentrating on other matters that will ensure the independence and integrity of the service commissions, such as the Police Service Commission, the Teaching Service Commission and others. The coalition wants to establish a framework of good governance and financial prudence, he said. The opposition leader said that the PPP has damaged some institutions and “we have to do a lot of remedial work.” He identified the Office of the Ombudsman and the Integrity Commission as two of the institutions. He said that the institutions need to be re-established in a way that would guarantee their autonomy. “These institutions have to be protected from undue interference especially from the executive branch,” he said.
Meanwhile, in relation to the local government reform Bills, Ramjattan said that they want changes and the government has indicated that it would like this to be discussed at the tripartite level. “That area is a major issue there,” he noted. He said that a meeting could be held on Tuesday, when President Donald Ramotar has indicated that he may be available. Ramjattan said that the AFC at least wants some consensus.
A raft of local government reform legislation was laid in Parliament in the last session but a number of bills were not passed and have to be brought back, Ramjattan said. He recalled that in the last parliament, a lot of work was done but there are now new members of parliament and some who were there previously may not be there now. “I feel that should done within a couple of weeks’ time,” he said. He said that other amendments in relation to the elections commission are still being discussed.
With regards to the Broadcasting Bill, Ramjattan said that they plan to strengthen some provisions and make the National Broadcasting Authority more independent of the Minister. He noted that drafting of this Bill is “a technical matter” and they are handicapped in this regard. Ramjattan said that the AFC has approached the Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman and have asked him to request the UNDP to support Parliament with a legal draftsperson, who would be funded by the agency.
Ramjattan said that he also wants the fast-tracking of the work of the Economic Services Committee to probe, firstly, the operations of the National Industrial and Commercial Investment Ltd (NICIL), the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and the National Insurance Scheme (NIS). He said that the other sectoral committees will be doing their work as well.
Ramjattan conceded that the parties have been “a little pedestrian” in the tabling of Bills but noted that everyone has something that they would like to bring. He said that the configuration of this parliament brings the checks and balances required and because of this, the progress will be slow. He noted that the AFC only has seven MPs and they also have been listening to the concerns of stakeholders and also want to be assured that the party will have support for its Bills.
