Speaker of the National Assembly Dr. Barton Scotland has disallowed questions by opposition MP Anil Nandlall on the convicts who were pardoned by President David Granger, arguing that they amount to “an abuse of the right of questioning.”
Nandlall, a former Attorney-General, said he was “astonished” by the ruling and accused the Speaker of obstructing the work of the Parliament, whose role is to scrutinise the Executive.
Earlier this month, Nandlall had submitted a list of questions directed to Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan for written responses at the next sitting of the National Assembly. No date for the sitting has been announced.
Nandlall said that the questions are being asked based on disclosures made by Ramjattan on the matter.
He asked that the Minister provide answers to six questions:
“1. Provide the following information in respect of each of the convicted prisoners whom His Excellency President David Granger has, thus far, pardoned:
(i) the name and last known address;
(ii) the date of birth;
(iii) the offence (s) for which the pardon relates;
(iv) the criminal antecedents or record;
(v) the length of the sentence being served at the time when the pardoned was granted;
- What process, if any, was embarked upon and what criteria, if any, was employed, either by His Excellency the President, or someone acting on his behalf, to determine eligibility for His Excellency’s pardon.
- Under what statutory or constitutional provision, if any, did the President act in granting the aforesaid pardons?
- What is the approximate number of pardons the President is likely to grant annually?
- How many of the persons, if any, to whom the President has granted pardons, have been subsequently charged with criminal offences?
- If so, provide the names of those persons and the offences for which they have been so charged.”
However, in a letter dated May 31, 2016 and delivered to Nandlall, Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs informed Nandlall that the Speaker, in accordance with Standing Order 20(2), is of the opinion that your questions “are an abuse of the right of questioning and has therefore disallowed your questions.” The letter said that the questions were dated May 24, 2016. The questions which Nandlall shared with the media earlier this week were dated May 9, 2016.
Contacted for a comment, Nandlall told the Stabroek News that he intends to write the Clerk and to request from the Speaker through the Clerk his reasons for deeming the questions an abuse.
“Natural justice dictates that public officials and public tribunals must give reasons for their actions,” he stressed.
According to the MP, one of the fundamental functions of a Parliament is to scrutinise the conduct of the Executive and to extract from the Executive, where necessary, answers for their actions, especially when it affects the public’s welfare. He informed that the Speaker cannot obstruct elected members of Parliament from exerting this scrutiny.
“In fact, the constitution makes the President and his Cabinet accountable to the Parliament. In my respectful view, the Speaker is obstructing and is becoming an obstacle to the constitutional responsibility which the Executive owes to the Parliament and by extension the people of this country,” he reasoned.
Nandlall said too that under the rule of law and in a democracy no one must be unaccountable.
He had earlier made the situation known in a Facebook post. “Something must be fundamentally wrong in a democracy when a non-elected member of the House seeks to prohibit an elected member of the House from asking questions that are indisputably of public importance and for which the public crave answers,” he wrote.
According to Nandlall, the transgression is compounded by the fact that the questions have been deemed “an abuse” without any reason provided for such a conclusion. “Of course, this is not the end of the matter. You will hear more from me as I continue the battle against a creeping dictatorship. You must add your voice to this travesty,” he added.
