So far, we have discussed the four topics relating to the above subject, the first being the prorogation of Parliament. The President had agreed that the National Assembly would resume its sittings on 10 November 2014 after it went into recess on 10 August 2014. He, however, changed his mind within hours of the convening of the Assembly and prorogued Parliament.
Earlier in the week, the President added his voice to the Administration’s criticism of the British High Commissioner’s remarks on the prorogation of Parliament and the failure to hold local government for 17 years. He accused the High Commissioner of double standards by remaining silent on the two incidents of prorogation of the Canadian Parliament. Unlike in Guyana, however, the Canadian Constitution provides for the Governor General, a politically neutral official and representative of the Queen, to prorogue the Legislature on the advice of the Prime Minister, usually when the agenda set out in Governor General’s speech is completed. In other cases, there must be adequate justification, and the Governor General may set conditions, including the length of time involved.
In both incidents to which the President referred, the Governor General insisted on a finite period for the prorogation. In December 2008, the Legislature was prorogued for 53 days to stave off a vote of no confidence in Stephen Harper’s minority government. However, it was not before the Prime Minister gave the assurance that within two to three weeks after Christmas break, his government would subject itself to the “judgment of the of the Legislature”. In December 2009, the Legislature was again prorogued for 62 days for the Winter Olympic Games.
Announcement of date for elections
Last Tuesday, the President announced that the date for national and regional elections will be on 11 May 2015, no doubt as a result of sustained and unprecedented pressures from all quarters, precipitated by the calls from certain segments of the international community. The ABC (the United States, United Kingdom and Canada) countries have since welcomed the President’s announcement and urged the Administration to refrain from the abuse of State resources during the electioneering period. They have also taken the opportunity to appeal to citizens to decide who their elected representatives should be, on the basis of due consideration of policies and programmes, rather than on ethnicity. They also referred to the LEAD project which is intended to promote issue-based politics to replace politics based on ethnic considerations.
The abuse of public resources using the State-owned television, radio and newspaper, among others, especially over the past 15 years, has not been restricted to election periods but has been a regular feature, indeed a modus operandi, of the Administration. Those who have been able to muster the courage to speak out against injustice, inequality, abuse of human rights, and the lack of good governance, transparency and accountability, have been singled out for personal attacks, vilifications and character assassinations, through the Administra-tion’s use of the very resources to which they contribute.
It is indeed unfortunate that when individuals and local organizations spoke out against the prorogation, such calls were met with stiff resistance. It was only when the diplomatic community joined in the call that the Administration buckled. It is evident that the announcement of the date for elections was done to appease the diplomatic community, especially the European Union (EU). The EU has withheld budgetary support for sea defences and the sugar industry in the sum €25.9 million because of the absence of budgetary oversight among other things, a clear reference to the prorogation of Parliament.
Since the last sitting of the Assembly took place on 10 July 2014, it would have been over six months since it did not convene. With the President’s announcement of the date for elections, and allowing for one month to attend to post-election administrative matters, close to one year would have elapsed without the country’s elected representatives being allowed to have a say in important decisions regarding the affairs of the State. This leaves the Executive as the sole decision-maker which in effect constitutes one-party rule. The Administration has therefore dealt a significant blow to the democratic norms and values that we had longed for and have so enthusiastically embraced and cherished since 1992.
Prorogation, dissolution and holding of elections
By Article 70 of the Constitution, the President may prorogue or dissolve Parliament at any time by proclamation while Article 61 specifically provides for elections to be held within three months after the dissolution of Parliament. This suggests that Parliament must be dissolved as a precondition for setting the date for elections, a view that has been expressed by a number of knowledgeable persons.
In accordance with Article 69(1), “Each session of Parliament shall be held at such place within Guyana and shall begin at such time (not being later than six months from the end of the preceding session if Parliament has been prorogued or four months from the end of that session if Parliament has been dissolved) as the President shall appoint by proclamation”. Since Parliament was prorogued on 10 November 2014, there must be a new Parliament in place no later than 10 May 2015 to comply with the six-month rule. Elections therefore have to be held at least one month earlier, that is, not later than 10 April 2015 to allow for, among others, the counting of ballots, announcement of the results, resolution of disputes, and the allocation of seats!
The other difficulty is that if Parliament is dissolved, it has to be convened within four months of the last session. The last session of the Assembly was on 10 July 2014 and Parliament was prorogued on 10 November 2014. If we accept that technically the last session was on the latter date, four months thereafter will be 10 March 2015. Allowing for one month for post-election administrative matters, this will put the date for the elections to 10 February 2015! Given the messy situation in which we have found ourselves vis-à-vis the constitutional requirements, the obvious course of action is to end the prorogation and resume the sittings of the Assembly.
Excess expenditure on 2014 budget and budgetary proposals for 2015
It will be recalled that in 2014, the Assembly did not approved some G$36.747 billion in the original budget that the Minister had presented. Despite this, the Minister went ahead and authorized withdrawals from the Consolidated Fund to restore parts of the budget that were not approved. As a result, excess expenditure totalling G$4.544 billion was incurred to 15 June 2014. The related financial paper was tabled in the Assembly on 19 June 2014 but consideration of it was deferred to a date when the Assembly would have resumed its sittings following its two month recess. As indicated above, hours before the Assembly could have convened, the President prorogued Parliament.
In all probability, a similar amount of excess expenditure would have been incurred in the latter half of 2014, bringing the total of excess expenditure that requires the Assembly’s ex post facto authorization to close to G$10 billion. This is in addition to advances of an undetermined amount that would have been made from the Contingencies Fund, which would also require parliamentary endorsement. The Assembly did not approve of some G$700 million in advances made from the Contingencies Fund from the date of the last elections in 2011 to the end of 2013. We are therefore in a crisis situation in terms of proper accountability for public resources.
The Auditor General’s report on the public accounts for 2013 was presented to the Speaker of the Assembly on 30 September 2014. To date, the Speaker was unable to lay the report in the Assembly because of the prorogation of Parliament. Accountability has therefore suffered another serious blow since by the time the Assembly convenes, some eighteen months would have elapsed before citizens would have had any knowledge of how financial resources allocated for 2013 were expended.
Article 218 of the Constitution requires the Minister to prepare and lay before the Assembly within 90 days after the commencement of the financial year estimates of revenue and expenditure for that year. This means that the 2015 budget has to be presented on or before 31 March 2015. While the Minister has indicated that budget preparation for 2015 is under way, the Head of the Presidential Secretariat was emphatic that the Tenth Parliament is now “history” and that the 2015 budget will be presented after elections. This will mean that the budget will not be presented in the Assembly until late June or early July 2015, and after allowing for one month of deliberations, the Appropriation Act is likely to be passed in August 2015.
Apart from a violation of Article 218, it is unclear how public expenditure will be financed for the months of May through July 2015, given that the Minister can only authorise withdrawals from the Consolidated Fund for up to four months of the beginning of the year to meet the cost of essential services. Such withdrawals are also restricted to one-twelfth of 2014 approved estimates for each of the four months, and no new capital expenditure projects can be initiated during this period. Therefore, there will be a funding deficiency from May 2015 until the passing of the Appropriation Act for 2015.
To be continued –
