…Gov’t uses majority to suspend meeting, offers no justification
By Svetlana Marshall
Hours after Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), David Patterson disallowed a Motion for Monday’s meeting to be adjourned at 12:30hrs, the Government used its one seat majority to pass another Motion for the adjournment of the day’s meeting, but not before it clashed with the Opposition on the matter.
On Monday, the nine-member PAC was scheduled to meet from 10:00hrs to 18:00hrs to scrutinize the accounts of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Infrastructure.
However, when the meeting was convened at the Public Buildings, Government’s Chief Whip Gail Teixeira moved a Motion for there to be an early suspension of the day’s meeting to accommodate a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs in the Chambers.
The Chairman of the PAC denied the Motion after a heated exchange of words from the two sides.
However, at about 12:15h following the appearance of the GDF before the PAC, Teixeira, who forms part of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, moved another Motion for the adjournment of the meeting to next Monday, offering no justification.
In tabling the Motion, she indicated that the rules governing Parliamentary Committees stipulate that Motions before Committees require no notice and are decided by Members and cannot be overruled by the Chairman.
But this did not sit well with the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Members, including the Chairman.
APNU+AFC Member of Parliament (MP) Ganesh Mahipaul, in objecting to Teixeira’s move, reminded the Committee that it was after extensive deliberations that it was agreed that the Committee will meet every Monday to scrutinize the accounts of the state agencies. Given the agreement, he said it was unreasonable and unacceptable for one member to disrupt the work of the Committee.
“There is no doubt that we have a lot of work to do in the Public Accounts Committee…and it is also unfair to us, some of whom would have come from great distance, to now be given a short notice [for an early adjournment],” Mahipaul said.
While acknowledging the importance of Committees, such as the one on Foreign Affairs, the Opposition MP recommended that other rooms within the Public Buildings be utilized or the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC).
“There is only one Member in this Committee that wants to stop this entire process, when we asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be here, when we asked the Ministry of Public Infrastructure to be here. Those public servants prepared for today’s engagement with the Public Accounts Committee, and one member, one single member wants to stop the Public Accounts Committee when there are a number of venues available,” Mahipaul reasoned. He argued that the work of the Committee must go on.
But when the Committee was informed that another location within the Public Buildings had been identified for the meeting of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Government Chief Whip said she never cited a reason or justification for the early adjournment, and pressed for her Motion to be put to a vote.
“My motion on the floor is completely devoid in what happened this morning. This morning you overruled incorrectly a Motion on the floor, so that has nothing to do with it because you have no such power as a Chair. Secondly, I have brought a Motion for an adjournment, and I have not given a reason. Other people seem to know my reason but I have not given a reason, I have asked for an adjournment,” Teixeira told the PAC Chairman.
She added: “I don’t need to provide a reason.”
In response, Opposition MP Jermaine Figueira said he was “flabbergasted” that the Senior Member of the House would indicate that she is not required to offer a reason for her Motion.
People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Member of Parliament, Bishop Juan Edghill, who had interjected during the debate to second the Motion, was heard shouting at the Chairman subsequently.
Edghill demanded that the Motion be swiftly put to a vote. PPP/C’s MP Sanjeev Datadin, who noted that there was no reason for the members to “go around in circles” quarrelling, reminded the Chairman, that the Government has a majority on the nine-member Committee, and as such recommended that another date be set.
The Chairman, after what could be described as a heated debate, put the Motion to a vote, but reminded the PAC that it did not meet since August 6, 2018 resulting in a backlog of work dating back to 2016. Given the earlier agreement reached and the magnitude of work before the Committee, Patterson said the Government was doing a disservice to the people of Guyana, by using his majority to stop the work of the Public Accounts Committee.
