THE SPEAKER CANNOT FIX A DATE – UNDER THE RULES OR BY PRACTICE


The Clerk to the National Assembly has sought, in a letter to the press, to answer my article last Sunday in which I contended that the Speaker must convene the National Assembly now. My argument was that the National Assembly, when adjourned without a date being fixed, must sit on the next sitting day pursuant to Standing Order 8(1).

The word ‘convene’ may be causing some difficulty. The Speaker cannot actually ‘convene’ by fixing a date for the sitting. As the Clerk says, and as I pointed out last week, he has no power to do so. By virtue of Standing Order 8(1), the Speaker must instruct the Clerk to ‘convene’ a sitting of the National Assembly, that is to say, to administratively set up a sitting on the ‘next sitting day’ in accordance with Standing Order 8(1). The Speaker has no power to fix any other date other than the ‘next sitting day’.

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THE SPEAKER IS OBLIGED TO CONVENE THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY NOW!


There appears to be no consensus among parliamentary parties about a date for the first sitting of the National Assembly after the just concluded recess.

There also appears to be some confusion as to the procedure by which the National Assembly is to be convened. It is claimed that the Government has to make a request of the Speaker. The AFC, on the other hand, relies on Standing Order (S.O.) 8(2) which permits the Speaker, if in his opinion the public interest so requires, to convene the National Assembly to a day earlier than that to which it stands adjourned. Under this S.O. the pre-requisite for the Speaker’s intervention is that a date must have already been fixed, which is not the situation. The AFC also relies on the Opposition’s has 51 percent of the seats. The Opposition Leader says that it is out of their hands.

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TIME TO ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY


The death penalty has not been carried out in Guyana since 1997. While it is true that there has been a large increase in murders since then, murders have equally soared in countries which have abolished the death penalty like South Africa as well as in countries which have not, like Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. The latter two and Belize are among the top ten countries for intentional homicide that have the death penalty. Three of these top ten countries that do not have the death penalty are Venezuela, El Salvador and Honduras.

The fact that the death penalty is not a deterrent to intentional homicide has long been established. For this reason, in recent decades the argument in relation to the death penalty has never been about the statistics, although supporters have disregarded them. At the core, the argument has always been about revenge, the eye for an eye philosophy.

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LEAVE DAVID GRANGER ALONE


Leader of the PNCR, Chairman of APNU and Leader of the Opposition, David Granger, has had to field questions recently about the effectiveness of the Opposition which together control a majority by one of the seats in the National Assembly. Challenges have also come from within the PNCR to Mr. Granger’s leadership by two formidable opponents, Carl Greenidge first and then Aubrey Norton. The clumsy handling of those challenges, particularly the most recent earlier this year, last left a degree of bitterness which is still being felt.

David Granger has always been a political animal but never served in a leadership position until his elevation, first as presidential candidate, then as Party Leader. His career in the military has always, or mostly, been related to the political, but this did not make for overt political leadership.

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RAMOTAR HOLDS THE PEN OF HISTORY IN HIS HAND


The Government has been given the choice by APNU to determine whether it wants local government elections or general elections. It could accede to APNU’s demand and fix a date for local government elections. If it does Mr. Granger will be forced to claim victory. APNU would not then be able to support the no-confidence motion to lead to national elections.

In the event that the above scenario does not occur and national elections are held as a result of a successful no confidence motion, the PPP’s campaign strategy, as is already known, would revolve around the alleged refusal of the Opposition to cooperate in developing the country. This refusal of the Opposition, the PPP will argue, is designed to deny development to Guyana and its people. The examples are well known.

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