Almost two months since two Bills passed by the National Assembly were sent to President Donald Ramotar for signature into law there is no word on whether or not the President will give assent and Speaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman is concerned and says that following the passage of the 2013 budget, he will engage the Office of the President.
Article 170 (2) of the Constitution requires that the President, who is part of Parliament, assent to bills presented to him following passage in the National Assembly. This article also states that where the President withholds his assent, he must return the bill to the Speaker within 21 days with a message stating the reasons for withholding his assent. This deadline has passed and the Speaker, APNU spokesman on Finance Carl Greenidge, and AFC leader Khemraj Ramjattan, have expressed concern.
The bills are the Fiscal Management and Accountability (Amendment) Bill and the Former Presidents (Benefits and Other Facilities) Bill 2012 and both were drafted by APNU with the combined opposition using its one-seat majority to pass the Bills which were strongly objected to by the ruling party. The Bills were sent to the President on February 25.
“I have written to the Speaker asking him to draw to the President, the law and the fact that the deadline has expired,” Greenidge, who laid the Bills in the House, told Stabroek News yesterday. The letter, which was also copied to Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs, was sent earlier last week. Greenidge reiterated his concern. “The President is not supposed to be breaking the law,” he said.
The parliamentarian said he had also spoken to Ramotar about the matter and he recalled that the President said he had not seen the Bills, but Greenidge said that this was “neither here nor there” as there is a procedure that is followed and the Bills were sent to the Office of the President.
Trotman also expressed concern. He noted that Greenidge had written to him on the matter and said the issue is on his list of priorities to be dealt with as soon as the 2013 budget is passed. He noted too that if the President declines to assent to the Bills, he has to give his reasons within 21 days. The Speaker said he will engage the Office of the President on the matter.
Recently, in a ruling that lifted a gag on Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee speaking in the National Assembly, Trotman said the President cannot withhold his assent for bills passed by the National Assembly except as set out in the Constitution.
“In Guyana, the presidency and National Assembly are creatures of the Constitution. Neither can relate with each other outside the manner prescribed within the Constitution. For that reason, the National Assembly cannot refuse to entertain a member who is appointed by the executive president as a minister except as permitted by the Constitution. In the same way that the executive president cannot withhold his assent for bills passed by the National Assembly except as set out in the Constitution, which is supreme,” he said in the ruling.
The President has said that he would not assent to any bill passed by the opposition unless it is with passed the full agreement of the executive and the full involvement of the executive.
AFC leader, Khemraj Ramjattan also expressed concern yesterday and said that the non-action is a breach of the Constitution by the President. “He must not delay the process. He must either assent or give his reason why not. Let the public know,” the parliamentarian said. He said he believes there is no explanation Ramotar could offer that can rationalise his non-assent to the Bills. He argued that the President is, in effect, exercising a veto on everything passed by the opposition and this is not good for the country.
Despite this, Ramjattan urged Ramotar to assent to the Bills which he described as very important. He said the President must show that “constitutional procedures will be adhered to and the constitutional process is not undermined by his non-assent.”
