PRESS STATEMENT
The controversy over the most recent swearing in of Ministers Keith Scott, Winston Felix and Sydney Allicock as APNU+AFC Members of Parliament has worsened with the nature of the advice disclosed by the Clerk of the National Assembly and presumably acted upon by President David Granger.
According to media reports, the Clerk of the National Assembly has advised that President Granger acted constitutionally in appointing the three (3) Members as Technocratic Ministers leading to their swearing in as non-voting M.Ps.
The Clerk, in discounting the PPPC rejection of their swearing-in, observed that once a candidate on an M.P. list was not originally extracted from their party list and appointed as an elected Member of Parliament, the others automatically become eligible to be appointed Technocratic Ministers by the President.
The Clerk’s advice is clearly unsound, since as is known unextracted lists members are still recognized as elected members of the House and can be extracted and appointed as elected Members of Parliament at any time during the five (5) year term of the Parliament.
It is clear that the drafters of the constitution intended to have different criteria for the designation of other elected or eligible to be elected Members of Parliament.
A judicial review of this situation is clearly indicated.
People’s Progressive Party
Freedom House
Thursday, June 11, 2015