AG cautions… : President is no rubber stamp of National Assembly : …says refused Opposition Bills will now have to get 2/3 support in House
Written by Gary Eleazar, Monday, 13 May 2013 19:53, Source
GUYANESE Head of State President Donald Ramotar is within his right to withhold assent to any Bill under Guyana’s Constitution and, having returned it to the National Assembly, it will now require approval by at least two thirds of the 65 Members of the House before it can be returned to him, at which point he cannot withhold assent.
Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, who also serves as Minister of Legal Affairs and Legal Advisor to the Government, yesterday made the pronouncements in response to sections of the Opposition that have called the move by President Ramotar, a catalyst for a “Constitutional Crisis.”
President Ramotar recently informed Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman, that he had withheld his assent from the two Opposition-led bills given that they were violative of the Constitution of Guyana and as such,were null.
The Bills in question include amendments to the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act as well as the Former President’s (Benefits and other Facilities) laws.
Nandlall, addressing a news conference yesterday hosted by the governing People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) at its Freedom House headquarters in Georgetown, said the positions being adopted by the commentators in the Opposition’s quarters are rooted in ‘fantasy’ and that the President is further protected by the Constitution from being held to ransom by the National Assembly.
Nandlall told reporters that the Opposition-led Bills did not enjoy the support of the Government and, as such, the criticisms are not unexpected.
“The joint Opposition has accused the President of precipitating a constitutional crisis and one commentator has accused the President of usurping the Court and the Speaker of the National Assembly.”
The Legal Affairs Minister, in response, reminded that Parliament is constituted of the President and the National Assembly and reminded that the power to make laws require the approval of the National Assembly and the assent of the President.
Nandlall reminded also that as provided for in the Constitution of Guyana, where the President withholds his assent and returns bills to the Speaker, it shall not again be presented to the President for assent unless within six months there is a 2/3 vote in the House to so do.
According to the Attorney General, it is only in this case that the President will have no power to withhold his assent and, “he (the President) in those circumstances must assent to the Bill.”
The Legal Affairs Minister is adamant that the National Assembly is not Parliament, but merely a constituent part with the other being the President.
Turning his attention to the two specific Bills which the Opposition had approved, but for which the President denied assent, Nandlall says “the President has acted within the constitutionally provided parameters when he withheld his assent and returned the Bills to the Speaker with his reasons.”
The Legal Affairs Minister further contended that the reasons offered by the President for withholding his assent are fundamentally grounded in the constitution itself and its supremacy.
Any proposed law that is inconsistent with the constitution is null and void, says Nandlall.
He noted also that the two Bills approved by the Opposition collides with the constitution “and are accordingly void.”
The Minister of Legal Affairs vehemently argues that the reasons tendered by the President are not “fanciful, irrational or even political but are indeed principled and legal.”
Nandlall told the media that the Opposition is free to disagree with the reasons offered by the President for the withholding of his assent, but it does not serve as any rational basis for a constitutional crisis.
He said that a reality which has to be accepted is that the President “is not a mere rubber stamp of the National Assembly.”
The President, he says, has jurisdictional freedom to withhold his assent to Bills, if he believes them to be misconceived.
“That is a Presidential prerogative that cannot be whittled away at the altar of political expediency,” Nandlall declared.
He reiterated that the constitution ensures that the President is not held to ransom or held captive by the National Assembly.
“There will be at all times due equilibrium between the two constituent components which comprise of that unitary whole called Parliament,” he posited.
*** Pull Quote: “That is a Presidential prerogative that cannot be whittled away at the altar of political expediency”
*** PULL QUOTE: The President acted within the constitutionally prescribed parameters when he withheld his assent and returned the Bills to the Speaker with his reasons for withholding his assent. In the circumstances, it is respectfully submitted that the contention that the President has caused a “constitutional crisis” is rooted in fantasy rather than reality.
