Legal advice to Speaker on No-Confidence Motions ready – Nandlall

Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, S.C, says he is ready with his advice to Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir, on the motions of no-confidence filed against Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon as well as Government Ministers Robeson Benn and Dr Frank Anthony last month.
Nandlall told reporters on Wednesday morning that there is no need now to rush with the advice, since Parliament is currently in recess.

“The opinions are ready, and I will transmit them in due course to the Clerk (of the National Assembly). I didn’t see the need to do it right now because Parliament is in recess, but they have been completed,” the Legal Affairs Minister indicated.
He did not go into details of what his advice is.

As per parliamentary practice, the three no confidence motions that were filed back in July – one by Government and two by the Parliamentary Opposition against each other – were submitted to the Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Issacs, to ensure they did not “offend the Standing Orders”.
The Clerk has since advised the Speaker to seek the legal opinion of the Attorney General on the matters before making a decision.
Nandlall reassured on Wednesday that his legal advice would be handed over before Parliament comes out of recess in October.

The Speaker will then make a decision on whether the three motions will be heard.
On July 6, Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon filed motions of no confidence against Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony and Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn, calling for their resignations over what he claimed was the poor management of their respective sectors.

The A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) contended that the management of the spread of COVID-19 has been woeful, and confirmed COVID cases and deaths are “spiralling out of control.”
The following day, the Government’s side responded with a countering No-Confidence Motion against Harmon. The motion was filed by Prime Minister Mark Phillips, who cited a number of issues, ranging from Harmon’s role after the March 2, 2020 elections to his recent campaign against Government’s procurement of the Sputnik V vaccines, and similarly demanding his resignation.
The NCM cites several grounds for Harmon’s removal, starting with his role in the APNU/AFC’s desperate fight to stay in power after losing the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections.
Phillips also contended that the Opposition Leader “recklessly misinformed the public and the National Assembly” when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine, its efficacy, and its acquisition by the Government.
This is a reference to Harmon’s recent campaign against the Government’s acquisition of Sputnik V vaccines, during which he even called for a halt to the distribution of the vaccine.
According to Phillips, Harmon’s actions endangered lives and increased vaccine hesitancy among an already vulnerable population.
“And Whereas the Leader of the Opposition opportunistically used the horrific murder of the Henry youth from West Coast Berbice as a means to incite ethnic disharmony. And Whereas the Leader of the Opposition has consistently denigrated the representative of the joiner parties, Mr. Lenox Shuman, Deputy Speaker, as a legitimate member of the parliamentary opposition, even going so far as to deny him holding an opposition seat on any parliamentary committee. BE IT RESOLVED that this House expresses its lack of confidence in the Leader of the Opposition and calls for his immediate resignation,” Phillips said in his motion.
At present, the configuration of the National Assembly sees the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) with the parliamentary majority of 33 out of 65 seats. APNU/AFC, the main Opposition party, has 31 seats, while the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), in collaboration with two other parties – A New and Unit Guyana (ANUG) and The New Movement (TNM), holds one. (G8)