After attempting to seize the ceremonial Mace in its failed bid to derail the passage of the Natural Resource Fund Bill No. 20 of 2021, the Opposition APNU+AFC is now contending that the Bill was not legally passed in the National Assembly.
The Opposition is basing its contention on two grounds namely, the absence of the Mace from the House and the members not being seated during the voting process.
“First, the Mace which is the symbol of authority and which must be present throughout the deliberation and sittings of the Assembly when a law is to be passed, was not present. Secondly, the Standing Orders state that a Member of the Assembly must be in his or her seat to vote in the National Assembly. Most of the Government MPs and members of Parliament were out of their seats, especially the Prime Minister who was on his feet waving. It is clear that there was no legal vote carried tonight in the National Assembly,” Shadow Attorney General Roysdale Forde said in a video statement.
He contended that the failure to adhere to those principles has rendered the passage of the bill null and void and of no legal effect. He added that the government still went ahead and repealed the NRF Act of 2019 in its quest to “pillage and plunder the Natural Resource Fund.”
“The Act was not repealed. What is alarming, is that the Speaker who should know better was complicit in this gross violation of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly of Guyana, of the principles and conventions associated with and which governs the good conduct of Parliamentary affairs.
“The APNU+AFC wishes to inform the Guyanese people that the prevailing law continues to be the Natural Resource Fund Act of 2019 because no legal vote was taken,” Forde said.
Sources close to APNU+AFC say that the coalition is now considering mounting a legal challenge against the government over the passage of the bill.
“What I can tell you at this time is that we are weighing our options and most definitely we will put up a fight for the Guyanese people. We cannot allow this illegality to take its course and we must not. We will have to seek redress in the Courts if this is allowed to go through,” Stabroek News’ source related.
