Georgetown : The reported intention of Speaker of the House, Raphael Trotman to convene a sitting of the National Assembly on November 6, is profoundly inconsistent with parliamentary fundamentals. This is the view of the Cabinet, according to Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon.
Speaking at his weekly post-Cabinet press briefing, Dr. Luncheon said that the inconsistencies in the Speaker’s position on this matter did not go unnoticed by the Cabinet.
On a previous occasion, the Speaker made mention of the fact that power to convene a sitting of the House is reposed in the Government of the day.
“The Speaker is on record to have adopted a different position when asked to pronounce on this same topic of convening Parliament…he is on record recognising the Government’s unique power to convene,” Dr. Luncheon said.
Meanwhile, based on perusal of parliamentary practices elsewhere in applicable jurisdictions, Cabinet received confirmation that the power to convene Parliament indeed falls under the purview of the sitting Government.
Dr. Luncheon reiterated that convening Parliament is essentially a preserve of Central Government, and by ignoring and abandoning these fundamentals, the Speaker has opened himself to significant criticism about his application of the Parliamentary rules and regulations.
Nevertheless, acting in accordance with those same fundamentals and motivated by its commitment to the role of Parliament, Cabinet continues to examine the issue of an appropriate date for the convening of a sitting. This date should be announced before the end of the week.
Some of the matters to be addressed on the Government’s agenda are: the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (Amendment) Bill, the Education Bill, the Wildlife Import and Export Bill and the Telecommunications Bill.
Several other pieces of legislation are also on the agenda for the new parliamentary session such as the Agriculture Ministry’s Food Safety Bill and the Legal Affairs Ministry’s Motor Vehicle Third Party Insurance Bill.
