…Govt claims it needed more time to contemplate no-confidence motion
One day after the Opposition – Peoples Progressive Party – filed a no-confidence motion against the Government, the 99th Sitting of the National Assembly was on Friday cancelled without notice.
Opposition Members of Parliament, who turned up at the National Assembly on Friday were shocked to be greeted with an empty chamber. Government MPs had not shown up, and Opposition MPs were informed that the sitting was postponed.
When questioned, Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs, related that Government had requested the postponement. The request, he said, was filtered through Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Barton Scotland.
Asked if a reason for the request had been proffered, he noted that this was not the case. It was, however, subsequently revealed that the postponement was requested so that Government MPs could have been briefed on the no-confidence
Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs
motion filed by the PPP.
In fact, the Government’s side had gathered on Friday afternoon for a meeting chaired by Prime Minister and Acting President, Moses Nagamootoo, to discuss the move. The sitting of the National Assembly has meanwhile been rescheduled for Monday.
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo had announced the no-confidence motion during a press briefing on Thursday. At the half-empty Parliament Chambers, the Opposition Leader reiterated some of his expectations regarding the motion.
“We have already succeeded, by filing this motion and getting this Government to sit up and notice these issues we are dissatisfied with. And we believe this will force them, if the PPP fails to secure the majority in the House, to take cognisance of the reasons why we are filing the no-confidence motion; and it will force them to bring a better budget.
“We’d like to see the restoration of the children’s grant. The same money they’ve increased food in Government by, they can give the children the $10,000 grant. It’s a matter of priorities. They should restore water subsidies for pensioners. Reverse the VAT on electricity, water, medical supplies, food, and machinery,” he adumbrated.
Jagdeo noted that some other measures he wants the Government to take are to reduce excise taxes, and reverse the increases in land fees for the Mahaica/Mahaicony/Abary Agricultural Development Authority (MMA/ADA) farmers — increases the farmers have still been unable to meet.
2014
When it comes to justification for the no- confidence motion, the former President noted, the parliamentary Opposition have even more reasons to bring the motion
Opposition MPs in the Parliament chambers on Friday
than the then Opposition had in 2014.
Jagdeo noted that constitutional agencies have highlighted the very discrepancies they will hold the Government to account for.
“Unlike the allegations of the past, when the PPP was there, we have had constitutional bodies pronouncing on the corruption. The Public Procurement Commission has pronounced on the ANSA McAL contract,” he said.
“They’ve done so with the Demerara Harbour Bridge, the feasibility study. The Auditor General has made it clear that money is missing from the D’Urban Park project…the ‘bonds gate’ scandal. These are documented cases,” Jagdeo stressed.
Guyana Times contacted Opposition Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira, to garner more insight into the processes regarding the hearing of such a motion. The PPP executive explained that there are no definitive timelines for the no-confidence motion to be heard in the National Assembly. However, she noted that Government hearing the matter before the presentation of the 2019 Budget is a matter of parliamentary ethics.
“Unlike normal motions that have a 12-day [timeline] for the Opposition, no-confidence motions are not governed by that. So the normal principle is that the Government would allow for it to be heard as early as possible,” Teixeira pointed out.
Though the Clerk of the National Assembly has certain powers over the business of the National Assembly, Guyana Times understands that the final decision on hearing the motion does not rest with him.
The Budget should be presented on November 26, and according to Teixeira, it should be heard before that presentation.
“The Government should accede to it being debated relatively early. Certainly on a moral and ethically issue, it should be debated before we go to the Budget, because if you have a no-confidence motion and your budget is being presented, it should be heard before the Budget,” the Opposition Chief Whip posited.
The PPP/C currently holds 32 seats in the National Assembly, while the APNU/AFC coalition Government hold 33 seats.
