Granger to AFC: Setting date for Parliament not our business

APNU Leader David Granger

No-confidence motion:

A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Leader David Granger said the issue regarding the setting of a date for the resumption of the next sitting of Parliament is out of the hands of the Opposition and is fully dependent on Government.

Granger was at the time responding to questions on whether his party has responded to calls by the Alliance For Change (AFC) for its support in requesting Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman, move ahead with the setting of a date for Parliament. Granger said that he did receive the letter from the AFC and had responded accordingly.

The AFC had earlier this week made a public call to Speaker Trotman, Government and APNU, for some mechanism to be worked out so that Parliament, whose recess had expired on October 10, could be resumed. Granger, in response, said that while his party is looking forward to a date being announced, the Opposition lacks any power in this regard.

“The matter was not one that could be resolved, or one that would be subject to lobbying by the Opposition. It is something that is motivated by Government’s agenda … Yes, we are looking forward, but it is not in our hands,” Granger told reporters at his Hadfield Street Office on Friday. Trotman may also not be able to honour the call by the AFC, since, according to Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs, the onus is on Government to confirm a date for the resumption of Parliament.

Speaking to Guyana Times on Wednesday, Isaacs explained that according to Standing Order 8 (2) “if during an adjournment of the Assembly, it is represented to the Speaker by the Government, or the Speaker is of the opinion that the public interest requires that the Assembly should meet a day earlier than to which it stands adjourned, the Speaker may give notice accordingly and the Assembly shall meet at the time stated in such notice”.

He further said that if a date had already been fixed for the next sitting and Government wanted an earlier sitting, representation would have to be made to the Speaker to do just that. He stressed that the Speaker could not on his own fix a date for the reconvening of Parliament.

Much to do

But while the AFC has been clamouring for the announcement of a date to be made, Government has said that its interest in setting a date for the next sitting is dependent on a number of factors and not just the No-Confidence Motion.

The AFC had said that it believes the delay in setting a date is as a result of the tabling of the motion, which was submitted to the Clerk early in August. The party said that its Vice Chairman, Moses Nagamootoo who had tabled the motion, had also requested that it be placed on the order paper as a matter of priority, to take precedence over all other matters pending debate.

But Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon said there are financial papers to be debated, in addition to outstanding bills that are still at the level of Parliamentary Special Select Committees and reports to be tabled and considered by the National Assembly after being submitted by existing parliamentary bodies.

Giving the importance of the motion, the junior political Opposition party is pressing for a sitting on October 22 or 24 which is permissible under the parliamentary standing orders. Even after a high-level meeting with parliamentary representatives on Wednesday, members of the Parliamentary Management Committee, which included Speaker of the House, Government and Opposition Chief Whips Gail Teixeira and Amna Ally, could not decide on a date for the reconvening of the 10th Parliament. This new development has placed the highly-anticipated No-Confidence Motion debate on the line. It also adds to the concerns raised by the AFC that there has been no effort placed into reconvening the next sitting of the Parliament.