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Opposition MP chided by AG for “contempt of parliament”
The political opposition expressed yesterday that being restricted to only two or three questions per line item in the 2015 budget will inhibit them from effectively holding the government accountable.
Attorney General,
Basil Williams
Opposition MP,
Clement Rohee
This was lamented by several members on the western side of the House during the deliberations of the estimates for Region Two (Pomeroon – Supenaam).
The Opposition only has three days to scrutinize the estimates and even worked until 3:00 am yesterday to push in as much work as possible.
But during the consideration of the estimates for Region Two, the opposition felt that there was some level of bias taking place as they have been prevented in some cases from asking more than two or three questions.
Leading the Opposition’s call for the Speaker of the House, Dr. Barton Scotland, to exercise leniency and some flexibility was PPP General Secretary, Clement Rohee.
Rohee told Dr. Scotland that only allowing two to three questions is perhaps the government’s way of sheltering its incompetence and it should stop. The politician said, “This is nonsense, just nonsense.”
But this accusation only unnerved members on the eastern side of the House, as Attorney General Basil Williams then took the floor and blasted Rohee for his “disrespectful” presentation. He said that the comments of the PPP General Secretary not only border on contempt of parliament, but bring the integrity of the Speaker’s office into question.
Williams, perhaps in defence of the Speaker’s office, emphasized that such behaviour should not be condoned.
His colleagues banged their tables in approval of his position.
But the House Speaker did not seem bothered by Rohee’s jab at the integrity of his office.
He, instead, dealt with his contention of the Opposition members being prohibited from asking as many questions as their hearts desired.
“The Speaker has been extremely lenient. But it is impossible to accommodate every question every member wants to ask. One member asked eight questions. I remember because as he asked them I made eight dots on my paper here. Now multiply that by 10… So let us not get carried away,” Dr. Scotland said.
Opposition Member Ganga Persaud then shouted, “Well what is the purpose of this exercise then?”
To this, the House Speaker retorted, “Let us not make this into what it is not. It doesn’t serve us well. Members have been taking the floor without the acknowledgement of the Speaker and asking questions without going through the chair.”
To the Speaker’s defence this time around was Minister of Governance, Raphael Trotman. He told the House that it is important for members to be cognizant of the time allotted for the consideration of the estimates and therefore, the Opposition should know that they cannot ask all their questions.
But his comments did not find favour with the Opposition’s Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira. The seasoned politician emphasized that the government has made some radical changes to the allocations for the administrative regions and the regional democratic councils.
She appealed to the House Speaker to understand that given these changes, there will be questions piling up on matters which need to be addressed.
“We have questions that have to be answered. If government is so insistent on this three days for consideration, then we will have to go until 3 a.m. again. We have to do what we have to in this House, Sir. If the ministers are not answering us properly then we have to keep asking until we get the appropriate answer. I am asking for some flexibility. The public is listening to this,” Teixeira stressed.
But as Dr. Scotland was about to address Teixeira on her statement, both sides of the House were caught up in trading insults.
The House Speaker had to remind the parliamentarians that they must still remember to grant him the courtesy of silence when he is speaking.
He then emphasized that the opposition must be bound by some rules and regulations, and it is obviously not possible to get the job done within the scheduled time if everyone wants to speak. He then appealed to both sides that they must learn to work together.
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