The main opposition APNU+AFC yesterday accused the governing People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration of “trying to stifle the National Assembly” by failing to set a legislative agenda and holding sittings.
Responding to question from Stabroek News on the failure to properly constitute the sectoral committees of the parliament and organise a sitting, Harmon told his weekly press conference that he believes these actions are “an attack on democracy.”
“It is an attack on democracy [which] is intensifying daily. We are outraged by the fact that these committees are not meeting and the National Assembly is not meeting. We have written to the Clerk and we have spoken to him and the feedback we got from the Clerk is that the government does not have items for the agenda and so we have no date for the National Assembly to meet,” he explained.
The sectoral committees are responsible for parliamentary oversight of the natural resources, foreign relations, economic services and social services sectors.
Stabroek News reported last week that Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Gail Teixeira had indicated that there is not “enough material” for a sitting.
“I wouldn’t be able to say right now. If I had an idea I would be able to tell you but I don’t have an idea. I can’t say right now what date we will have parliament, at this point,” Teixeira told Stabroek News on November 10.
“I guess when we have enough material to come into parliament with. We are working on a number of draft legislation,” she added.
Parliament last sat on September 25th, when the consideration of bills consequent to the 2020 national budget was completed.
Contacted for comment yesterday, Teixeira repeated that she “will not be able to give a date right now.”
Stabroek News highlighted that the six pieces of legislation published for “general information” in the official gazette over the last week could constitute an Order Paper but the Minister reiterated that at this point in time there is no date.
The Clerk of the National Assembly has published, ahead of their introduction in parliament, the Adoption of Children (Amendment) Bill, the Hire Purchase Bill, the Deceased Persons Estates Administration (Amendment) Bill and the Law Reform Commission (Amendment) Bill.
APNU+AFC, via Shadow Minister of Home Affairs Geeta Chandan-Edmond, has also submitted for consideration a motion calling for a Commission of Inquiry into the September 19th unrest at the Lusignan Prison that resulted in the deaths of two inmates. Chandan-Edmond has also submitted a motion asking the Assembly to compel the government to accept international help in its probe of the recent murders of three West Berbice teenagers.
According to Harmon, these matters should be enough for a private members’ sitting of the Assembly.
“We have submitted several motions so we have business. Just as the government’s side they have days, there are opposition days in the National Assembly as well. We will press in the National Assembly. We will press the Clerk and we will press the Speaker to ensure we have a sitting of the National Assembly,” he said.
Harmon further noted that through the Inter-Parliamentary Union and other parliamentary associations he has written to all the parliaments of the world complaining that the PPP/C is attempting to stifle transparency.
Addressing the concerns that sectoral committees have not met, Harmon shared that the Parliamentary Management Com-mittee met on Thursday after weeks of “pressing” from his office. The meeting, however, did not reach any actionable decisions.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which has not met since August 6, 2018, has still not been convened. Communication between the designated chair David Patterson and Clerk Sherlock Isaacs show that it is only the Speaker who can convene the first meeting of the PAC.
“The first meeting of the PAC is convened by the Honourable Speaker for the purpose of electing the Chairperson,” Isaacs informed Patterson as part of a series of communication made public by the opposition.
After receiving this information, Patterson, in correspondence with Speaker Manzoor Nadir, asked for his “urgent intervention and assistance in scheduling the first meeting.”
“I am aware of the heavy workload that the speakership requires. However, this particular committee has not met since August 6, 2018 and is four years behind on its examination of the AG reports,” he wrote.
The PAC is, among other things, responsible for examining the audited accounts, as presented in the Auditor General’s Report, showing the appropriation of sums granted by the National Assembly to meet public expenditure and such other accounts laid before the Assembly, exercising general supervision over the functioning of the Auditor General.
