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Trotman to consult former Speakers on reconvening National Assembly

October 20, 2014 | By | Filed Under News 

 “The 10th Parliament has been plagued by too many challenges… Any decision I make must be able to stand the scrutiny of the court” – House Speaker

By: Kiana Wilburg

In light of arguments by his predecessors, Ralph Ramkarran and Sase Narain, on the powers of the Speaker to reconvene the sitting of the National Assembly, House Speaker Raphael Trotman is expected to conduct a meeting with the two. This advice will be used to inform his apparently cautious quest for a “correct decision” that will stand the scrutiny of any court.

House Speaker, Raphael Trotman

House Speaker, Raphael Trotman

While some politicians are vigourously pursuing viable options to halt the current delay of the sitting of the National Assembly, Former Speaker Ramkarran in his recent writings on his blog, (Conversation Tree) opined that every day that goes by without the sitting of the parliament amounts to a violation of the parliamentary rules.
He argued that the present Speaker is obliged to convene the sitting of the parliament on October 11, the day after the parliamentary recess ended. He said that this is supported by the Standing Orders.
Ramkarran also stated that since the National Assembly is normally adjourned for the recess without a date being named, the next sitting date has to be October 11. The former Speaker said too that he takes responsibility for erring on this part during his tenure and said that such a violation should not occur under any Speaker, past or present.
Trotman was contacted by this publication yesterday via telephone and he explained that at this point, he is being “bombarded” with views on the reconvening of parliament from all angles.
“On one hand you hear, the Speaker has the authority to reconvene, then you hear that the Speaker does not have that power, and then you hear that the Speaker has that power but with certain conditions. In Guyana, there is definitely not a shortage of experts on the Constitution. But it must not be overlooked that there is a process that was agreed to and we must allow that to be exhausted first. I am speaking about the Parliamentary Management Committee. That committee has members of all the political parties and it was agreed that the Whip of the Government and the Opposition, Gail Teixeira and Amna Ally, respectively, would meet and discuss or find some consensus on the date for the reconvening of the National Assembly. However, I will be meeting with the Whips this week and if they indicate that they are unable to reach a consensus, I believe that we can look at other measures then,” the Speaker explained.
Trotman said that while there is the argument that the Speaker has the power to reconvene the parliament, and that he should do so, he reiterated that he wants his decision to be able to withstand the scrutiny of the court.
“The 10th Parliament has been plagued by too many challenges. Even if I have that power, I have to ensure that what I am doing is correct. I spoke with former Speaker Narain on this matter but I will consult with Ramkarran now and Narain once more,” Trotman articulated.
While the comments on what his next step should be are coming “fast and furious”, Trotman stressed that he believes that it is not his place to prompt the date for the sitting of the Parliament, but rather preside over it.

Former House Speakers, Ralph Rakarran

Former House Speakers, Ralph Rakarran

In order to reconvene the sitting of the House, Trotman said that he had suggested that in the public’s interest, if 51 percent or more of the House makes a case for the House to be reconvened, it would be considered.
“The Alliance For Change wants to debate its No-Confidence Motion and the A Partnership for National Unity has other matters it wants to discuss, in addition to the Motion. I am not going to reconvene Parliament for just seven members,” Trotman added.
In a brief interview with this publication, Narain, who served as Speaker of the House when the Peoples National Congress held the majority, said yesterday that he provided Trotman with some advice on the matter. While he agreed in the main with Ramkarran’s position, he insisted that once representation is made to the Speaker by a majority of the House, “He (Trotman) has the power to exercise discretion whether to call parliament or not. This is undoubtedly supported by the Standing Orders.”
After being apprised of Trotman’s comments, the Opposition’s Chief Whip, Amna Ally was asked yesterday whether she was contacted by Teixeira and if they are unable at this point, to reach a consensus on a date for the sitting of the parliament. She responded, “Whatever the Speaker tells you, is that. I really don’t want to comment on that…Miss Teixeira and I are still in talks. I don’t know if we will reach a consensus but I told her that we want an early sitting and she has not contacted me since on the matter.” Teixeira could not be reached for her input.

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In light of arguments by his predecessors, Ralph Ramkarran and Sase Narain, on the powers of the Speaker to reconvene the sitting of the National Assembly, House Speaker Raphael Trotman is expected to conduct a meeting with the two. This advice will be used to inform his apparently cautious quest for a “correct decision” that will stand the scrutiny of any court.

FM
Originally Posted by Cobra:

Trotman took 30 million pieces of silver NOT to reconvene parliament. He said he will not do it for seven members only. In other words, he to told Ramjattan to haul his ass. 

Well I am glad we can agree on at least one thing serpent. Seems like your usual piss distribution is on hold today....for now.

FM
Originally Posted by HM_Redux:
Originally Posted by warrior:

the speaker want to make it airtight so the ppp cannot run to the courts 

Bullshit.......

hey we wait 22 yrs to kick the ppp we can wait 2 more weeks

FM
Originally Posted by warrior:
Originally Posted by HM_Redux:
Originally Posted by warrior:

the speaker want to make it airtight so the ppp cannot run to the courts 

Bullshit.......

hey we wait 22 yrs to kick the ppp we can wait 2 more weeks

This entire gang from de Ramjattan to Trotman and Granger the whole lot are dunce as ass..

 

AFC to press Speaker on Parliament date

Posted By Staff Writer On October 20, 2014 @ 5:22 am In Local News | No Comments

AFC leader Khemraj Ramjattan says that he will write to Speaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman urging him to set a date for the sitting of the National Assembly so that a vote on an AFC-led motion of no-confidence against the government can take place.

“I will now formally write the Speaker and indicate to him that he should utilise the opinion given by former Speaker Ralph Ramkarran…and also utilise the argument that as head of the legislative branch, that he must utilise his authority under the doctrine of separation of powers to ensure that the legislative branch is not subverted by the delays of an executive branch member, namely the Prime Minister not calling it (the sitting),” Ramjattan told Stabroek News yesterday.

Following the conclusion of the two-month-long parliamentary recess, opposition party AFC has been pushing for the National Assembly to be reconvened in order to proceed with a debate and vote on its no-confidence motion against the government. The combined opposition’s one- seat majority is enough to see the passage of the motion, which would trigger new elections within three months. As a result, the Donald Ramotar-led executive has been accused of deliberately stalling in setting a date for the next sitting— a charge that it has denied.

Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs has suggested that under the Standing Orders, the government has to fix a date before any sitting can be called. David Granger, leader of the main opposition coalition APNU, which has agreed to support the no-confidence motion, on Friday signalled that the coalition was inclined to accept this interpretation.

Trotman, meantime, has told Stabroek News that he has not sought legal advice and added that it is the function of the Clerk to determine whether legal advice is necessary.

However, former two-term Speaker of the National Assembly Ralph Ramkarran in his column in the Sunday Stabroek yesterday said that Trotman should convene the National Assembly as soon as possible and every day that goes by without a sitting amounts to a violation of the parliamentary rules. Trotman’s predecessor in the speakership position based his conclusion on the rule that the National Assembly is adjourned to the “next sitting day” when no date is named upon its adjournment and the fact that there is no procedure to reconvene outlined in the Standing Orders (SOs).

Neither Granger nor Trotman could be contacted by Stabroek News yesterday for comment on Ramkarran’s position.

 A lot of sense

Ramjattan told Stabroek News that he was going to write to Trotman formally. He said that Ramkarran’s arguments make a lot of sense and he also pointed out that the leader of the legislative branch is the Speaker and he must not allow the House to be subordinated by the executive branch on so important a matter.

FM

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