Leader of the Opposition Aubrey Norton says that while Parliamentary Com-mittees provide an avenue to raise issues affecting the country, there are no mechanisms for action in addressing them.
Norton’s comment came following the contention of former Speaker of the National Assembly Ralph Ramkarran that the issues he highlighted, as pressing to the Opposition, are best suited to be addressed in the parliamentary setting.
Last week, Norton told reporters that as representatives of the people in the National Assembly, it is expected of both the APNU+AFC and the Office of Leader of the Opposition, that all concerns of the people are addressed and any agenda for a meeting with the President should include that.
“…while the constitution puts some clear obligations, the fact that we are elected representatives, that fact means that we have to deal with the other critical issues that affect the people of Guyana. So I think the agenda will have to include issues that are of concern to both the government and the Opposition,” he had said.
On Monday, Stabroek News reported that Ramkarran, a former two-term Speaker of Parliament rapped both the government and the opposition for not making use of the various committees which were established via the constitutional reform that took place in 1999-2000.
President Irfaan Ali last week announced he will invite the Opposition Leader for talks on constitutional appointments in two weeks and this prompted Norton to say at a PNCR press conference that he was looking for broader dialogue.
On Tuesday, at his weekly press conference, Norton restated his position that broader dialogue is warranted in any engagement with President Ali.
“I want to make it clear that the intention is to honour the constitutional responsibility. However, I do not believe that that precludes (other) issues from being raised at the highest level,” he said.
He added “Mr Ramkarran’s contention that it should be dealt with at the level of the Parlia-mentary Committees misses that [at] the Parliamen-tary Subcommittees these issues can [indeed] be raised [but] there is no mechanism for action. What we need is action on some critical matters.”
Ramkarran, in his Sunday Stabroek column, noted that the Constitution provides an array of mechanisms to entrench inclusion. These include five parliamentary standing committees on constitutional reform, natural resources, economic services, social services and foreign relations. The chairs and deputy chairs are from the Government and Opposition and these are rotated. A Parlia-mentary Management Commit-tee with equal representation by Government and Opposition, chaired by the Speaker with no vote, was also provided for by the Standing Orders.
He contended that the tools for inclusive governance have been handed to the nation on a platter but neither the Government nor the Opposition, particularly the latter, had made use of them.
At Tuesday’s press conference, Norton related that he is yet to receive official word from the President inviting him to meet. However, he did say that when the meeting happens then there will have to be issues outside the realm of the constitution on the agenda.
“Yes, we can appoint judges. Yes, we can appoint a Commissioner of Police. What good will that serve us if there is no respect for the rule of law if the government is dictatorial and democracy is not practised and those are critical issues to be discussed,” Norton said.
