Disorder in the House

Nov 11, 2012 Editorial

Guyana appears to have arrived at a “Mexican Stand-off” in the National Assembly. The key element that created such a situation is the very close equality in power between the government and the Opposition. The inability of any one party to advance its position safely is a condition common to any standoff; in a Mexican standoff, there is additionally no “safe” way for any party to withdraw from its position, making the standoff effectively permanent.
In our case, the Opposition has demanded the firing of Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee. Initially, the reason proffered was that he was responsible for the three killings during the protests at Linden. Now that no direct culpability has been demonstrated during the hearings of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) on the incident, the Opposition, in the person of the leader of the parliamentary opposition, has suggested that the demand is now based on his overall performance during his term of office.
In the last sitting of Parliament, as they had done in the previous sitting, the Opposition parties raised a loud clamour when Minister Rohee rose to present a bill. The Mexican Standoff was avoided through the device available to the House for the Clerk to perform the first reading of the Bill. The Speaker, responsible for the functioning of the House’s business, promised to seek legal clarification of the Opposition’s contention on the status of Minister Rohee.
In the second instance, which would have led into a debate on the bill, the Minister as mover of the Bill had to speak. He could not as a result of the din. The Speaker informed the Opposition, and indeed the entire House, that he had consulted with the legal experts and they unanimously concluded that Minister Rohee must be allowed to perform his duties, including, of course, speaking in the House. This had been the position of the government benches.
The Speaker temporarily adjourned the sitting and asked the two sides to come to an agreement out of the Mexican Standoff. Based on the Speaker’s own advice to the House, with which the government MPs were in total agreement, this meant that the Opposition had to back off from its position on Minister Rohee. Upon resumption, the combined Opposition refused to do so and through renewed and increased clamour, again prevented the Minister from speaking.
The Speaker, thereupon, was advised by the government MPs of his duty under Standing Order 47 which spoke to “Order in the Assembly and in Committee”. He then adjourned the sitting for the day. While he postponed a resolution to the Mexican Standoff, the Speaker’s action precipitated a new bone of contention to the already fractured House.
The Government’s spokespersons pointed out immediately after the adjournment that according to Standing Order 47, the Speaker could have used the device of suspending MPs who are deliberately disobedient – known as “naming” – rather than suspending the entire sitting. The government could have then proceeded with its business, just as it does when the Opposition stages a ‘walk-out”.
The Speaker has now responded using several rationales for his action. Firstly, according to a report, he claimed S.O. 47 states that “no more than one member ought to be named for misconduct.
He therefore ‘faced a dilemma” when thirty members misbehaved. This is totally erroneous since S.O. 47 (4) clearly states ,”Not more than one Member shall be named at the same time, unless several Members present together have jointly committed the offence.” As outlined in S.O.47 (3) the Speaker should have called upon a Minister to call for the suspension of all those in violation of his ruling.
The Speaker also said that ‘no request was made for the sanction”. In cases of disorder in the House, the Speaker can take his own cognisance.
Then the Speaker pointed out that he had relied on two specific “rulings’ of previous Speakers as precedent. But in those cases, the members had each been suspended. The Speaker could have easily used S.O. 47 (4) to suspend all the disorderly members.

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