In light of the government’s delay in reconvening the National Assembly, main opposition APNU on Friday announced that it will move to amend the Standing Orders to ensure certainty in the resumption of parliamentary sittings after a recess.
APNU Member of Parliament Joseph Harmon told the party’s weekly press conference that the coalition would move a motion to amend Standing Orders 8, 8(1), 8(2) and 9.
“APNU will be filing a motion seeking to… bring greater clarity as to what can be done by the Speaker, what can be done by the majority in the National Assembly and how long it should take, after a recess, for parliament to be reconvened,” he explained.
“We believe that this gridlock which has occurred and the delay with getting on with the work and people’s business should not take place and therefore we are proposing an amendment to Section 9, which says after the recess we are given a specific timeframe in which Parliament has to be reconvened,” he added.
The announcement was made against the background of an ongoing dispute about who has the authority to reconvene the Assembly in the absence of a date being fixed for a sitting. Government has been accused of delaying setting a date for a sitting in order to forestall a motion of no-confidence against it, filed by the AFC, being debated and taken to a vote.
Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs last week refused to make preparations for a sitting this week after a request to do so by Speaker Raphael Trotman. Trotman, after consulting with former speakers, had arrived at the conclusion that sittings could be held based on the Standing Orders. But Isaacs had advised Trotman that such power did not reside in the speakership. This prompted Trotman to declare a constitutional crisis and urge all stakeholders to work at resolving the matter.
APNU’s leader David Granger pointed out that previously the coalition was of the view that the sitting should be called by the government. “Having listened to what the whips had to say, the interpretation at that time was that the government had responsibility. But given the advice of the Speaker, it is clear that there is some ambiguity and we support the Speaker’s right to convene Parliament,” he said.
Further, he added “APNU will introduce a motion to ensure there is no ambiguity in future… and that it be very clear that once the recess comes to an end there will be mandatory procedures to ensure that we don’t have this intolerable delay that we have now.”
AFC leader Khemraj Ramjattan told Stabroek News that his party will “fully support” the motion so that “beyond the shadow of a doubt” everyone will clearly understand the rules for the National Assembly’s reconvening after a recess. “Indeed that will be a remedy for… the recent developments… I will commit our support as leader of the AFC,” he said.
He reiterated that his party anxiously awaits the National Assembly’s reconvening.
