Opposition Chief Whip, Christopher Jones has written to the heads of several international parliamentary organisations over the delay in the reconvening of the National Assembly in Guyana. Guyana Standard understands that copies of the letter were dispatched to the President of ParlAmericas, Blanca Ovelar, the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Duarte Pacheco, and Stephen Twigg, the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
In the missive seen by this publication, Jones told the officials that over 85 days have passed since the last sitting of the National Assembly.
“The National Assembly was subsequently convened principally to debate and pass the budget for 2021. The budget was passed on 4th March 2021, as at the date of this correspondence marks eighty-five days since the last sitting of the National Assembly. There is no indication from the Speaker of any intended date for another sitting,” he said.
He further informed that during this ‘forced closure’ of the National Assembly, 487 questions for oral and written replies have been submitted by the Opposition Members of Parliament. The questions concerning Health, Security, Governance, Environment, Education, Economic, and International Relations issues have not been addressed by the responsible Ministers.
Jones said that additionally, the High Court of Guyana has ruled that two Members of Parliament appointed as Parliamentary Secretaries by the Government are unlawfully appointed and despite the service of order of court upon the Speaker, he has taken “no discernible steps” to remove those persons as Members of Parliament.
The parliamentarian said that the failure to convene sittings of the National Assembly “is now giving further credence to a developing dictatorship in Guyana. We therefore again seek your support in urging the preservation of parliamentary democracy and encouraging the prioritization of regular sittings of the National Assembly.”
