Government Chief Whip and Member of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Gail Teixeira says the non-attendance of government members at last Monday’s meeting was not a deliberate act and that their absences were due to national emergencies and members being ill.
Her comments were made in response to the claims of opposition Member of Parliament and fellow PAC member, Ganesh Mahipaul. In a letter published in Tuesday’s edition of the Stabroek News, Mahipaul said that the absence of government members reinforces their position that they want to decide when “PAC should meet and at what pace the PAC should be working.”
Labelling Mahipaul as a “Drama King” Teixeira dismissed the notion and said their absence is nothing of the sort. She said that every member from her side of the House provided the parliamentary body with an excuse for their absence.
The Chief Whip explained that she was ill since last week and is currently recovering, making it difficult for her to attend. She stated that she had attended the last sitting virtually but due to her health at the time she could not positively contribute to examination of reports.
She went on to inform that members, Juan Edghill, Vishwa Mahadeo, and Dharamkumar Seeraj, were all dispatched across the country to assess the flooding situation, more so in Region Nine. This she pointed out was an emergency situation. She added that member Sanjeev Datadin was tasked with scheduled court duties.
“All these reasons were given to the opposition but it seems like Mr Mahipaul is a drama king and wants to make this an issue when it is not an issue,” Teixeira said.
“Editor, this action of the Government side to not attend PAC confirms and authenticates the Opposition’s position as articulated in the debates on Wednesday, April 13, 2022 and that is, the Government’s attempt to dismantle the guardrails of our democracy, decide when PAC should meet and at what pace the PAC should be working,” Mahipaul said in his letter.
On the grounds that Edghill, Mahadeo and Seeraj were summoned to assess the flooding, the opposition member argued that the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) is responsible for the assessment of the flood situation in Region Nine and it is the CDC that recommends to the Prime Minister and Cabinet for Government’s intervention. “So the attempt by the Government PAC members to hoodwink us did not work.”
Teixeira added since the passage of the motion to change the quorum, this is the first time all members were absent and it was unavoidable.
“Don’t you think we want to question the level of corruption that was taking place under the APNU+AFC? We changed the (quorum) to ensure we have a voice at the meetings but they want to rush through the reports of their years in government. So who is really trying to stymie the process? We have no interest in stymieing the process,” she said.
She went on to state that her side of the house was preparing and ready to question the findings of the Auditor General’s forensic report on City Hall expenditure of $400 million in 2017.
While President Irfaan Ali was the Chairman of the PAC in 2017, he had ordered a forensic report into spending at City Hall. Teixeira said documents were requested from the Auditor General’s Office and to date they are still awaiting those documents.
On this note, she stressed that they were prepared to examine that report.
“The public perception about the Government’s spending of taxpayers’ dollars in 2020 after the passage of the budget in September 2020 and 2021 is shocking, marred with corruption and flies in the face of transparency and accountability. Only the Public Accounts Committee can dispel that perception and one would have thought that this Government which sings about transparency and accountability would have wanted to clear the air, but clearly they don’t,” Mahipaul said further.
Teixeira had successfully moved a motion in April to amend Section 95 (6) of the Standing Orders which speaks to the quorum of the Public Accounts Committee.
The section stated that three members constitute the quorum on any Standing or Select Committee, including the Chairperson, “unless the Assembly otherwise directs.”
Standing Order No. 83(5) now provides in the Parliamentary Management Committee for a quorum of five members, of which two must represent the government, and two must represent the opposition, one of whom shall be the representative of the main opposition party, and the Speaker and or the Deputy Speaker as the Chairperson of the Committee.
