The will of the PPP/C government is the problem as it relates to ensuring the crucial autonomy of Parliament Office, according to former Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarran.
Ramkarran, in a recent article published in the Stabroek News, also said that the ‘Office of the Clerk of the National Assembly Bill 2012’ in the name of APNU parliamentarian Volda Lawrence has serious flaws but these can be remedied. “Notwithstanding these problems, the Bill can be amended by agreement to conform with the constitution if the executive is prepared to recommit to autonomy which it once supported, and on which it later reneged,” Ramkarran wrote. “The signs are that it is not prepared to budge and that it sees executive control of the machinery and budget of Parliament as still a necessary tool of executive dominance,”