Government, Opposition squabble over House ruckus

Jan 25, 2022 News

– eight APNU+AFC MPs sent to committee of privileges

Kaieteur News – Government and Opposition have traded blame over last December’s ruckus in the National Assembly and a motion by the government to discipline eight Members of Parliament (MPs) from the APNU+AFC was referred to the Committee of Privileges on Monday.
The opposition in retaliation has also submitted two motions – one a no confidence motion against the Speaker, Manzoor Nadir, and also a motion for the House to discipline 22 MPs from the Government benches. Those motions have been deemed inadmissible on the grounds that they were not properly presented. The Opposition is to resubmit the motions.
Meanwhile, at the commencement of the sitting on Monday Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira formally asked the National Assembly to take action to address what she termed as the misbehaviour of several Opposition MPs who attempted to disrupt the proceedings of December 29, 2021. The MPs in question include Opposition Chief Whip, Christopher Jones, Ganesh Mahipaul, Sherod Duncan, Natasha Singh-Lewis, Annette Ferguson, Vinceroy Jordan, Tabitha Sarabo-Halley and Maureen Philadelphia.
The MPs attempted to prevent the passage of the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) Bill 2021, after government had ignored a number of organisations and private citizens to rush through the legislation. The new NRF Act has given the government total control of the oil fund, which they intend to use to fund the budget and other controversial projects. “Of special note, Mr. Speaker, is that the space between the Government’s side and the opposition’s side is in any Parliament, considered the safe zone, the safe space. And any entrance without permission is interpreted as an act of aggression, and a threat to the safety of the Members of Parliament,” Minister Teixeira told the National Assembly on Monday, according to a Department of Public Information release.
Teixeira, according to the DPI, described the attempt by the opposition MPs to seize the mace of the House as a “treacherous act”. She asked that the violations committed by the eight Opposition MPs be referred to the Committee of Privileges, which handles matters relating to the powers and privileges of the National Assembly. “This day will go down in the annals of the Guyana Parliament. The events during the debate on the Natural Resource Fund Bill have been recorded by the media, citizens, reporters, by persons who were viewing the livestream on that day. The evidence is overwhelming. This is recorded evidence that cannot be erased or forgotten. In fact, it was seen in Guyana nationally and globally.”
Despite their disruption in the assembly, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for finance, Dr. Ashni Singh was allowed to present the bill which was then hastily passed without any debate. For this and other confusion during the sitting, the Opposition has charged that the bill was not properly passed and has hinted that it will challenge it in court.
Meanwhile, ahead of Monday’s sitting the Opposition had filed a Motion for 22 Government MPs to be sent to the Committee of Privileges over their un-parliamentary conduct. The Motion was submitted to Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs, on Sunday, by Leader of the Opposition, Joseph Harmon and seconded by the Opposition’s Chief Whip, Christopher Jones. Harmon in the motion recalled that during the December 29th sitting the Members of the Opposition and Government ended up in a physical, loud and aggressive “face off” in the well of the Assembly. He said it was the Government MPs who had become abusive. “… Members of the Government side engaged in and used abusive and threatening language and behaviour towards Members of the Opposition and that this conduct and behaviour was un-parliamentary to say the least and violative of the privileges accorded to a member of this National Assembly,” Harmon said in his motion.
According to him, the conduct of the Government MPs brought the National Assembly into disrepute and invited public odium into the affairs of the Assembly. Among the MPs he listed are: Teixeira, Mark Phillips, Anil Nandlall, Nigel Dharamlall, Kwame McKoy, Anand Persaud, Susan Rodrigues, Jennifer Westford, Mustapha Zulifkar, Sanjeev Datadin, Robeson Benn, Hugh Todd, Faizal Jafarally, Juan Edghill, Sheila Veerasammy, Vickram Bharrat, Joseph Hamilton, Alister Charlie, Charles Ramson, Deodat Indar, Collin Croal and Vindhya Persaud – be referred to the Committee of Privileges.

Opposition MPs blew their whistles as they attempted to block the passage of the controversial NRF Bill

The Opposition has also filed a Motion of No-Confidence against the Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir.
On Sunday Harmon had said that the Opposition MPs had determined on December 29th, 2021 that they were the last line of defense against an authoritarian regime which was salivating about the idea of having complete control of the revenue from our oil resources that is the patrimony of all Guyanese. According to him, the Opposition MPs came to that conclusion after witnessing the decision of the Speaker not to allow a petition by Guyanese Citizens requesting that the consideration of the Natural Resource Fund Bill be paused to allow for greater consultation. He said Article 13, the Georgetown Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc., and the African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA) had also underscored the need for greater consultation on the legislation, which was being proposed at the time.
The Opposition had also asked that the Bill be sent to a Special Select Committee to ensure wide consultation on the repealing of the Natural Resource Fund Act of 2019 but this too was rejected.
“The people’s representatives in the opposition were determined to defend the patrimony of the Guyanese people. However, anyone who was in the National Assembly on the night of December 29th, 2021 or looking on via the livestream could determine that the Speaker was not in control of the Assembly as most Members of Parliament both Government and Opposition were not in their seats during the debate,” Harmon said.
He said the APNU+AFC is maintaining that the Natural Resource Fund Bill, no. 20 0f 2021 was not successfully passed given the circumstances under which it was debated and purportedly passed. “…we maintain that the mace which was used in place of the original one was a replica. We also maintain that at the time of members casting their votes, many members on the Government side were not in their seats. They were standing! Hon. Mark Phillips, the country’s Prime Minister and head of government’s business was not seated when the voting took place, video evidence shows him pumping his fist way above his head at this said time,” the Opposition Leader explained.
He said the actions by many of the Government MPs as caught on camera on December 29th would require any impartial Speaker to discipline them.