The main Opposition party, the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) recently promised to take legal action against the government over the appointment of an acting Police Commissioner. But this is not the first time the party has threatened legal action and it will certainly not be the first time it will fail to follow up, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall has said.
The Minister, during his “Issues in the News” programme last night, said PNCR is merely bluffing. He recalled that the same “threat” was made by the PNCR during the passage of the Natural Resources Fund (amendment) Bill (NRF) last year during an inhouse fracas that saw the forcible removal of the Mace by an Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) and the verbal assault of a parliament staffer.
“It is the same bluff that they have made in relation to the Natural Resource Fund Bill…Since then, a threat was issued by APNU+AFC that they will challenge the legality of the passage of that bill in the National Assembly. Well, January has gone. February has gone. We are in the ending days of March. Three months and no such action has been filed. I have no doubt that the lawyers are telling the politicians to stop saying that we are going to file action because these actions are not going to succeed,” Nandlall said.
The PNCR-led A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) has since sought to justify its action in the House during the passage of the NRF bill. It said it was “doing it for the people” and it wanted to stave off a “thieving bill” that diminished the powers of the finance minister to manage oil monies and gave the reins to the President and a Board.
The PNCR said it was going to take legal action then, although AFC Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan expressed doubt that there will be any success in the courts. He expressed similar sentiments on the question of litigation surrounding Opposition MP, Sherod Duncan’s suspension from the House during an outburst triggered by a “dildo” comment made by the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall earlier this year.
Ramjattan postulated that the courts tend to not get involved in parliamentary matters. His theory, however, is not consistent with legal action the APNU+AFC government took subsequent to the passage of a no-confidence motion in December 2018 that significantly lessened its powers and reduced the regime to a “caretaker” government.
