Coalition MP Jermaine Figueira elected new PAC Chairman

APNU/AFC Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) Jermaine Figueira was on Friday elected the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
He has replaced Alliance For Change’s (AFC’s) David Patterson after a Government-tabled motion of no-confidence was passed against him in the National Assembly on June 15.
In light of that successful motion, the coalition Opposition was informed by Speaker of the House Manzoor Nadir and Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs that Patterson could no longer serve as the PAC Chair – something which the party was being adamant about.
Against this backdrop, the PAC Members were invited to a special meeting on Friday to elect a new Chairperson. According to Parliamentary Standing Orders, the Committee which oversees public spending must be chaired by a member of the Opposition.

As such, at Friday’s meeting, MP Figueira, who is the shadow Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport and Region 10 Representative, was elected as the new PAC Chairman.
Contacted for a comment on his election to PAC Chair, Figueira expressed “my election as Chairman comes on the heels of a grave miscarriage of justice against Mr David Patterson who was doing a phenomenal job as Chairman”.
Patterson has been embroiled in controversy after he admitted to receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in gift items from agencies and departments under the then Public Infrastructure Ministry, which he headed in the previous APNU/AFC Administration.
Earlier this year, Patterson’s successor, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill had presented to the media vouchers and receipts from jewellery stores, showing that over $2.6 million worth of gifts and personal items were purchased for Patterson, mostly for his birthday – by various agencies that falls under the Ministry.
Meanwhile, Patterson is also facing criminal charges for his role in the sole sourcing of a contract for the design of the new Demerara River bridge. That contract went to Dutch company LievenseCSO. The former Minister was placed on $200,000 bail after he and former DHB Corporation Head, Rawlston Adams, were charged for defrauding the bridge company of some $162.6 million.
As such, there had been widespread calls for the embattled Opposition MP to step down as Chair of the PAC – the parliamentary body that is responsible for scrutinising the Government’s spending via the audited reports from the Audit Office of Guyana.

However, the coalition Opposition has been adamant in having Patterson remain the PAC Chairman.
In fact, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Government’s Chief Whip Gai Teixeira, who is a member of the PAC, had tabled a motion of no-confidence against Patterson at a Committee meeting in February this year but his Opposition colleagues refused to take up his seat, arguing steadfastly for Patterson to be retained. Then at subsequent meetings, Patterson failed to put the issue on the agenda.
This resulted in Teixeira tabling the No-Confidence Motion against Patterson in the National Assembly last month. After a marathon session that featured lengthy and heated debates that run into the wee hours of June 15, the motion was passed by a 34 to 31 majority in the National Assembly.