Speaker of the National Assembly Dr Barton Scotland on Friday referred a decision on the Opposition’s concerns regarding the presence of the Prime Minister in the National Assembly whenever he performs the functions of the President to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Constitutional Reform.
The Opposition had claimed that the Prime Minister was essentially squatting in the House if he attends the sessions when he performs the duties of President, saying the constitution is clear that his seat becomes vacant in such a situation and should be assumed by another Minister.
Today, the Speaker said he did not believe he should be the one to make a decision on the matter, leaving the Opposition furious.
“As Speaker of the National Assembly vested with powers to rule on many matters which come before the House, I hold that such powers should be exercised with circumspection and inappropriate instances.
“My reading on this matter…does not incline me to the conviction that unilateral action in this matter by the Speaker or any other Third Party Instrumentality will lead to a final and permanent resolution,” the Speaker stated.
As such, he suggested that the matter should be resolved in the Parliamentary Standing Committee for Constitutional reform, noting that the committee can enlist the aid of other persons or appropriate expertise, whether or not such experts or other persons are members of the National Assembly.
Opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira, who had written the Speaker on the issue, compared the Speaker’s actions to that of the Biblical Roman governor Pontius Pilate who sought to abdicate responsibility for Jesus’ death by letting the crowd decide.
“He is behaving like Pontius Pilate, just washing his hands and passing Jesus on,” Teixeira told reporters after the Speaker read his response to her in the House.
The Speaker discouraged a resort to the court to settle the matter, but Teixeira said the Opposition would be forced to go that route
https://newsroom.gy/2018/12/14...acting-as-president/
