Christmas is 2 weeks away

Dec 12, 2017 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

One way of looking at the fracas which broke out in the National Assembly yesterday afternoon is to take the legalistic approach. This is what a government spokesman did when he contended that the issue was about the disobedience of a ruling by the Speaker.

This is, however, only one way of looking at the matter. The situation is far more complicated and complex than simply a case of an opposition members of parliament refusing to comply with an order of the Speaker.

The developments which took place yesterday have their origins in the fact that the time which is being allotted for both debate on the National Budget and in the Committee of Supply has been cut. The number of days for the consideration of the Budget has been cut. This has led to the curtailment of the time allotted for questioning the government on their proposed spending. There was even an advertisement in the newspapers indicating a schedule for the questioning of the estimates of ministries and departments.

It is the National Assembly which has to approve the Estimates and this hurrying of the debate and the consideration of the estimates places the opposition at a disadvantage and this is the primary source of vexation by the opposition.

Contributing to the problem is the fact that too many Speakers now want to speak during the debates which means less time per Speaker, further compounding a difficult situation.

The essence of parliament democracy requires that the opposition be given adequate time to question the estimates and also be given latitude in terms of the scope of their questions. Trying to limit the time allocated to speakers and trying to restrict the number of questions which can be asked of each Ministry or Department limits parliamentary scrutiny. And this is the problem which has led to a tempestuous relationship between the two sides of the House and between the opposition and the Speaker.

The ruckus which broke out in the National Assembly yesterday, therefore, cannot be reduced to simply an issue about the Standing Orders. It is not the first time and will not be the last time that parliamentarians on both sides of the political divide have been in violation of the Standing Orders and particularly in refusing to obey an order of the Speaker.

We had a situation in the previous parliament when every time a certain Minister of the PPP got up to speak the then APNU would try to drown out what the Minister was saying. This had caused great frustration, even to the Speaker whose appeal for the Minister to be heard would be disregarded. It reached a stage where instead of the MPs having to walk out, the Speaker walked out of the House.

There is nothing unusual, also, about MPs finding peaceful ways to protest a ruling by the Speaker. In the past, we have had MPs walking out of the Assembly in objection to rulings by the Speaker.

An MP has a right to protest what he or she sees an injustice. Often this protest takes the form of a walkout but sometimes the MP can decide to do what one PPPC MP did yesterday, refuse to obey the order. It is a breach of the Standing Orders to not comply but that is a price those who believe they have a just case, often have to pay to ensure that their rights are respected.

Cheddi Jagan was prevented from speaking in the National Assembly because he refused to apologise to the Speaker. He ended his parliamentary career in literal silence. The rest is history.

There was once a woman who was too tired to go to the back of the bus. When she was ordered to do so, she refused. The rest is history.

It is therefore not enough to simply look at yesterday’s fracas in the National Assembly as a case of one an MP refusing to obey an order from the Speaker. The issue has to do with the exercise of the rights of members to be afforded adequate opportunity and time to scrutinise the estimates, a fundamental function of members.

The Budget is being presented early. Why not then extend rather than reduce the amount of time for debate and consideration of the estimates. Christmas is still 2 weeks away!

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