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Govt. will decide on no-confidence motion debate – Clerk
While Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo believes that it is the prerogative of the Speaker of the National Assembly to decide on when the no-confidence motion against the government will be debated, the Clerk of the House, Sherlock Isaacs says otherwise.
A motion of no-confidence was recently filed against the government in the name of Jagdeo. He was worried about the delay and the fact that the motion is yet to make its way on the order paper.
Isaacs has told the media that over the years, he has conducted extensive research on no-confidence motions.
Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs
He said that he has learnt that no-confidence motions are dealt with differently in various Commonwealth Parliaments.
Isaacs further stated that the Standing Orders of the Parliament of Guyana are silent on the requirements of a no-confidence motion. He said however that Standing Order No.113 (1) of the National Assembly of the Parliament of Guyana states, “In any matter not herein provided for, resort shall be had to the usage and practice of the Commons Assembly of Parliament of Great Britain and Northern Ireland followed as far as the same, may be applicable to the Assembly
these Standing Orders or with practice of the Assembly.”
Isaacs stated that the 24th edition of the Parliamentary Practice of the Commons Assembly of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Erskine May, page 344, states, “From time to time, the Opposition puts down a motion on the paper expressing lack of confidence in the Government or otherwise criticizing its general conduct. By established convention, Government always accedes to the demand from the Leader of the Opposition to allot a day for the discussion of a motion tabled by the official Opposition, which in the Gove would have the effect of testing the confidence of the House. In allotting a day for this purpose the Government is entitled to have regard to the exigencies of its own business, but a reasonably early day is invariably found….”
He said that in keeping with the British practice, when a motion of no-confidence was brought
against the Government in 2014, having regard to the exigencies of the Government’s business, it
was published on Notice Paper and dealt with like other Private Members’ motions that require notice; it was placed on the Order Paper for consideration by the National Assembly twelve (12)
days from the day on which the notice was published on a Notice Paper.
Isaacs said, “In my view, the day for the hearing of a no-confidence motion is determined by the Government and not by the Speaker of the Government National Assembly of the Parliament of Guyana.”
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