Discipline of MPs in Mace grab scandal, appointments to constitutional commissions on parliamentary agenda

…to be dealt with next Monday

Governance and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Gail Teixeira has revealed that among the things Parliament will deal with next Monday are the disciplining of Members of Parliament (MPs) involved in the infamous Mace grab and appointments to constitutional commissions.

Minister Teixeira spoke of the parliamentary agenda for the Monday, January 24 sitting, during an interview with State media. One of the issues she noted will be dealt with is how Parliament will discipline the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Members of Parliament who grabbed the Speaker’s Mace on December 29, 2021, in an effort to disrupt the passage of the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) Bill.

“We have a number of options open to us, we meaning the National Assembly based on the Standing Orders. The Speaker can call on a Minister of Government to call for the suspension of the members. The Speaker can also let the matter go to the Privileges Committee, which he chairs.”
“And or the Government in its own right can go to the Speaker in the Assembly and ask members to go to the Privileges Committee. So there are a lot of options. On Monday one of those will definitely be invoked,” Teixeira further explained.
Teixeira emphasized, however, that any action taken by the Speaker does not preclude the Guyana Police Force from doing its own investigations and taking action against any MP, whether for assaulting parliamentary staff or the alleged damage done to the Parliament’s control room on December 29.
During a debate on the NRF Bill at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Members from the APNU/AFC coalition had dislodged the Mace from its position in front of the Speaker in a bid to seize it.
At one point in the proceedings, Personal Assistant to the Speaker, Ean McPherson was seen latching onto the Mace while lying on the floor in an attempt to secure it, while Opposition MPs stood by hurling racial slurs and taunts at him.
Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir has vehemently condemned the actions of Opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) for seizing the Mace during a sitting of the House. He had noted that there would be repercussions for this gross misconduct.

Other issues
Another issue on the order paper to be dealt with is the Tissue Transplant Bill, which will pave the way for organ transplant to be legalised and managed in Guyana. According to Teixeira, a cultural shift will be required for Guyana when it comes to this type of legislation.
Also on the agenda are the appointments to the Ethnic Relations, Human Rights and Police Service Commission, all of which take precedence on the order paper before the Public Procurement Commission. Teixeira was hopeful that these commissions could be dealt with before Budget 2022, noting the important role they play.
“The issues are the secretariat is there to serve the commission. And where the commissions have expired, the secretariat does what the secretariat does. They take the (complaints), they have investigating officers who would then make a report that goes to the commission.”
“But they don’t have the power to make decisions, which is the mandate of the actual commission, the chair and commission. So they are running the day to day operation of the secretariat. The PPC expired in October 2020. It has not functioned,” Teixeira said.
Among the PPC’s key functions are, according to the Procurement Act, to “Monitor and review the functioning of all procurement systems to ensure that they are in accordance with law and such policy guidelines as may be determined by the National Assembly; promote awareness of the rules, procedures and special requirements of the procurement process among suppliers, constructors and public bodies; safeguard the national interest in public procurement matters, having due regard to any international obligations; monitor the performance of procurement bodes with respect to adherence to regulations and efficiency in procuring goods and services and execution of works; approve of procedures for public procurement, disseminate rules and procedures for public procurement; and recommend modifications thereto to the public procurement entities.”
Five persons are so far tipped for appointment on the commission; Guyana Bar Association President and Attorney-at Law Pauline Chase; Financial Analyst Joel Bhagwandin; former National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) Chairman Berkley Wickham, Diana Rajkumar and Rajnarine Singh. (G3)