Salary cut needed when MPs fail to attend sittings, perform – Shuman

Members of Parliament who fail to appear and perform in the National Assembly should face reduced salaries, Leader of the Liberty and Justice Party, Deputy Speaker Lenox Shuman has asserted.
On Friday, Shuman called out his colleagues in the House for failing to exercise their duties in some instances, even simply showing up to proceedings.
“My colleagues, when there is a Parliament, some of them don’t even bother to log in. They don’t even bother to show up. I think the taxpayers need to tie performance and attendance to the pay of every parliamentarian. If you cannot attend, then by virtue of those attendance, one’s salary should be reduced,” he expressed.
When Senior Minister within the Office of the President, Dr Ashni Singh delivered his budget presentation last week, many seats on the Opposition side remained empty as they failed to show up.
Last November, the Constitutional Reform Bill in the National Assembly was passed, but with the absence of the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC), after they walked out of the House. The coalition then sent out a statement attributing its walkout to their motions not being allowed on the floor because they did not meet the threshold for debate.
Meanwhile, Shuman also called on the APNU/AFC to lead by example in their representation of the people who elected them into the National Assembly. He shared his disappointment that many of them are ill-equipped to recognise their obligations as prescribed in the Constitution.
“We have sat in this House and listen to a political party that sat in breach of the Constitution for how many years and months, continue to trample on that very Constitution. It is what we as parliamentarians have sworn on day one to uphold the Constitution. I admonish my colleagues on this side to do better, to lead by example because the people at the end of the day exercise their confidence in that franchise to put all of us in this House,” Shuman explained.
The Deputy Speaker further called out the APNU/AFC for its race-baiting statements and other such acts.
Article 168 of the Constitution of Guyana states that “All persons, institutions and political parties are prohibited from taking any action or advancing, disseminating or communicating any idea which may result in racial or ethnic division among the people.”
“Those are some very, very critical words that we swore to uphold yet we have members coming to this floor in violation of that constitutional article. I say it is my sincere hope that the Guyana Elections Commission is paying attention.” (G12)