AFC pursuing legal action to compel convening of parliamentary subcommittees – Patterson

The Alliance For Change (AFC) has announced that it will be pursuing legal action in order to compel the government and by extension, Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir to convene the various parliamentary sub-committees.
General Secretary, David Patterson, at the party’s media conference yesterday in his statement noted that the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) government’s refusal to convene the Committees of the National Assembly is “now an obscenity that stinks to the high heavens.”
Patterson, who is set to be nominated as the head of the Public Accounts Committee, has been pushing for the convening of the Committees. As per the standing order, it is the Speaker who must first schedule the meeting to simply elect the heads of the committees.

The Speaker on Thursday, while on the sidelines of an event at the Parliament Building, acknowledged that there is a delay, and noted that his office is facing some “challenges” in convening the first meetings.
Those challenges, he explained included ensuring members from far flung areas are present at the meetings. As such, he asked for patience.

Patterson however pointed out that three other CARICOM countries, Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, and St. Vincent & the Grenadines have already convened the full Parliament and all Committees.
In the case of Guyana, he continued, “the failure of the regime and the Speaker to convene these committees after four months, for the necessary oversight as prescribed by the laws and Constitution, is an outrage.”

According to the AFC General Secretary, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic cannot be used as excuse as the Parliamentary Office is engaging in daily meetings using the online platform, Zoom.
Further, Patterson noted too that the Speaker’s plea for “patience” is seen as a disservice to the Parliament.

“It is even more worrisome when one notes that the Speaker has the parliamentary staff engaged in hosting several Christmas parties and fireworks activities rather than concentrating on the hosting of Committee meetings,” he said.
“Yesterday’s handing over of the Auditor General’s report was a charade of the worst order as there is no Public Accounts Committee in place to peruse that report,” Patterson continued.
The 12th Parliament has 14 fully constituted subcommittees with oversight for varying sectors including the Public Account Committee (PAC). The duties of the Public Accounts Committee duties include examining the audited accounts of state agencies presented in the Auditor General’s Report, and exercising broad regulation of the functioning of the Auditor General.