Latest update May 28th, 2026 12:35 AM
Latest News
- Two-year delay of Wales gas project costing Guyana $884M more
- Guyana, Trinidad refuse to sign CARICOM statement against US military action in Cuba
- Nurse hands over ‘weed’ snacks meant for Mazaruni Prison to police
- U.S. military strikes Iran facility after Trump says Iran is ‘negotiating on fumes’
- Exxon plans to reduce oily discharge in Guyanese waters – 9th project summary
‘Parliament has become the creature of the Govt.’ – Dr. Hinds
Kaieteur News – Co-leader of the Working Peoples Alliance (WPA), Dr. David Hinds has lashed out at the PPP/C government for its slothful approach to convening the 13th Parliament, arguing that the administration is holding the legislative arm of government at ransom.
Dr. David Hinds
During his party’s press conference on Wednesday, Dr. Hinds pointed out that the national assembly remains one of the three foundation branches of government. He contended that it was unacceptable that exactly one month after Guyanese went to the polls, the national assembly has not been convened.
“How can we argue that government is working when its lawmaking body is non-existent? Both the judiciary and executive branches are conducting their constitutional functions—why not the legislative branch?”
Hinds, who will be heading to parliament as a legislator under the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) coalition, reasoned that the president did not hesitate to name and swear in his cabinet after he was declared winner of the September 1 elections. “Why a different standard for the national assembly? Why is the president holding up the work of the national assembly?” he questioned.
“The answer is simple. The schedule of the national assembly is controlled by the executive branch. It follows that just as the executive branch has become the creature of the ruling party, so has the legislative branch. When you take into consideration the situation whereby the executive has held the judiciary at ransom by not regularising its top officers, what we have in effect is executive supremacy underpinned by paramountcy of the party. This is a sure recipe for autocracy and one-party rule,” Hinds declared.
He said, while the letter of the law gives the power to the president to convene parliament, the spirit of the law deters him from using it as if he were a king. Guyana is not a monarchy.
On Tuesday, President Irfaan Ali said that his government operates within the constitution, which he noted, gives him a timeframe to convene parliament.
“You can always count on the PPP/C government to do everything within the constitution, and I would never ever do anything outside of it. Article 69 (1) speaks on this matter. The president will reconvene parliament, we have until four months after the parliament was dissolved,” Ali said during a live Facebook programme.
The president added that he sees no need to rush the process. “I still have a lot of time under the constitution to reconvene parliament. It will take me sometime in November that is within the constitution. So, I think Guyana can trust the PPP/C government and we will operate within the constitution. The constitution gives me a time frame and I was elected president and what I can assure you that it will be convened within the constitutional timeframe,” he assured.
Dr. Hinds said both the national assembly and parliament represent a co-equal branch of government which should not be imprisoned by another branch.
“In this regard WPA thinks it’s time to get rid of the practice whereby government ministers sit in the national assembly. It is a farce. It makes a mockery of the doctrine of separation of powers and checks and balance. If the legislative branch serves as an oversight of the other two branches, then how can you have members of those branches or one of them sitting in the former? In effect what we have are ministers overseeing themselves.”
The party also called for constitutional change to remove control of the management of the legislature from the executive.
“Strict separation of powers should be explicitly enshrined in the constitution. Experience has shown that more often than not our governments have scant respect for the letter of the law. The national assembly should have direct control over its workings. There should be a statutory date for the swearing in of MPs in a new parliament. Further, parliamentary sittings should be statutory and not left to the whims and fancy of the executive branch of government,” Hinds relayed.
Share this:
Discover more from Kaieteur News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Sir. Ronald Sanders
The GHK Lall Column
Weekend Cartoon
