| President will not assent to constitutional mockery |  |  |  |
| Written by Gary Eleazar |
| Thursday, 14 February 2013 22:23 |
THE one-seat majority held by the combined Opposition in Parliament could prove sterile for its latest jaunt, as Attorney General Anil Nandlall has indicated to the National Assembly that he will advise Head of State, Donald Ramotar, not to assent to a Bill approved last evening, purportedly to amend the Guyana Constitution.  Anil Nandlall The Bill was approved following a division of votes in the House 33/28.  President Donald Ramotar Attorney General Anil Nandlall, who also serves as legal adviser to the government and Minister of Legal Affairs, in seeking to rubbish arguments put forward by opposition speakers, said that “it is a Constitutional mockery to believe that you could just cut something from somewhere and just add it to the Constitution…it is the supreme law of the land.” The Constitution (Amendment) Bill introduced by Greenidge seeks to add a number of agencies under the Schedule of the Constitution of Guyana that allows for a lump sum draw down directly from the Consolidated Fund. Greenidge, in his arguments, suggested that the independence of the bodies such as the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Public Service Commission and Judicial Service Commission, among others, are being hindered by being listed as ‘Budget Agencies.’ Nandlall, in a traditionally lengthy argument, proffered that, “we have been accused of fighting against autonomy and independence of these bodies; but any examination of the Laws and Constitution and our record in government, beyond any shadow of rational doubt, show our record has been one of devolving power away from Central Government.” The Legal Affairs Minister reminded the House that, “we have passed a series of legislation creating statutory bodies…we have transferred power from Central Government,  Bibi Shadick  Carl Greenidge Nandlall suggested also that the administration, in its bid to ensure a decentralisation of power from the Executive, pointed to the fact that the Public Corporations Act has been used to create a number of independent entities, such as the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation and the New Guyana Marketing Corporation. He said that these entities previously fell under the direct administrative control of Central Government, “we have removed them from that architecture and placed in their own province and given them statutory autonomy.” Shadick, in her arguments in support of the government’s position, sought to point out that the office bearers referred to by Greenidge do enjoy security of remuneration under the Constitution of Guyana. This, she said, was a deliberate decision made by the framers of the 2002 Constitutional Reform, “to say that we are making the holders of the office independent, but we are putting (222(a) Constitutional Article), to make separate the expenditure incurred by the bodies…not all of them will be drawn directly from the Consolidated Fund.” Under Schedule III of the Constitution of Guyana, agencies such as the Ethnic Relations Commission, the Human Rights Commission, the Office of the Auditor General and the Judiciary, among others, have been safeguarded to receive monies directly from the Consolidated Fund. Attorney General Nandlall reminded the House of a ruling by Chief Justice (ag), Ian Chang, following the 2012 Budget, where the funds for the ERC has been slashed to $1. Greenidge suggested that entities such as the DPP Office and the Judicial Service Commission not being listed under the schedule was an omission on the part of the lawmakers in 2002, a position vehemently opposed by Shadick. She suggested that the framers of the 2002 constitutional amendments “had their reasons,” for allowing the office holder’s remuneration to be secured while the entity’s expenditures are supervised. “I don’t buy that…The people of Guyana will not buy that, it’s not just a typo,” said Shadick. The government’s Speaker said “I am standing here to say that this government will not turn our noses on the deliberate effort by those framing the (2002 Constitutional) reform.” Other Speakers to the debate on the Constitutional Amendment included APNU’s Basil Williams and the Alliance for Change’s Khemraj Ramjattan. The bill presented by Greenidge, stems from a motion he had initially presented, calling on Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh to transfer the Budget Agencies to the Constitutional Schedule. |