Speaker dismisses motion to send Govt MPs to Privileges Committee

…says no prima facie case made out by APNU/AFC

A motion for 22 Members of Parliament (MPs) on the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government side of the aisle to be sent to the Privileges Committee has been dismissed by Speaker of the National Assembly Manzoor Nadir.

The motion in question was brought by A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Chief Whip Christopher Jones and the former Opposition Leader, Joseph Harmon. Speaker Nadir announced his decision on Monday at the opening of the debates on Budget 2022 at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC).
According to House Speaker, the motion was dismissed on two grounds: the first being that a prima facie case was not made out against the Government parliamentarians and the second being that the Government lawmakers cannot be liable for the illegal actions of the Opposition MPs during the infamous Mace grab on December 29, 2021, during the passage of the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) Bill.
“I have looked at the motion and the case and I have also come to one conclusion. And have been advised about another principle I also want to use in my dismissal of that motion. First, the motion will not proceed because a prima facie case has not been established,” the Speaker explained.
“Secondly, there is and I was told only this morning because I’m surrounded by so many lawyers… on both sides of excellent repute, that every first-year law student learns the phrase Ex turpi causa non oritur actio, which means you cannot bring a legal action for your illegal actions in the first place. Based on those two, I’m not allowing the motion to go ahead.”

In a subsequent interview with this publication, Jones was critical of the decision. He noted that the issue should have been sent to the Privileges Committee anyway, where the merits or lack thereof of the motion would have been examined.
“I can tell you off the bat we don’t agree with it. It is essentially calling for members to go to the Privileges Committee, where evidence of the case is actually presented and it is the Privileges Committee to make a determination of whether a person is guilty or not,” Jones said.
On December 29, 2021, several APNU/AFC MPs grabbed the Speaker’s Mace, in an effort to disrupt the passage of the NRF Bill. Governance and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Gail Teixeira subsequently moved a motion to have eight members of the APNU/AFC parliamentary Opposition sent to the Privileges Committee.
The parliamentarians are APNU/AFC’s Chief Whip Christopher Jones, and other MPs, Annette Ferguson, Ganesh Mahipaul, Sherod Duncan, Natasha Singh-Lewis, Vinceroy Jordan, Tabitha Sarabo-Halley, and Maureen Philadelphia.
The Opposition, in turn, had moved a motion for the 22 Government parliamentarians to also be sent to the Privileges Committee. The motion had been delayed at the time, however, because the Speaker had said that there were issues with its delivery.
According to the Parliament of Guyana website, “any matter which appears to affect the powers and privileges of the Assembly is referred to [the Privileges] Committee whose duty is to consider any such matter and to report thereon to the Assembly.”