Speaker of the National Assembly Ralph Ramkarran said yesterday that his decision to disallow Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh from criticizing his approval for the PNCR-1G to lay a motion, which was later voted against by the government last week, had to do with the integrity of the House. He added that his decision could not be called into question during a debate.
His comments came in a statement in response to Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon’s comment that the Speaker’s actions in the matter were “astonishing”. Luncheon during his post Cabinet media briefing on Friday, told reporters that Cabinet resolved that the exercise of its executive prerogative in bringing matters of a financial nature to the attention of Parliament for its consideration and its enactment would not be stayed, or shared. The Government Information Agency (GINA) quoted Luncheon as saying that the Speaker apparently defended his act of denial of the Singh’s right to reply, by insisting that the minister was challenging his ruling or authority. Luncheon, according to GINA, also said that Cabinet examined the matter and reiterated its resolute commitment to the principle of executive prerogative in presenting legislation on financial matters to Parl-iament and fully supported Singh’s argument.
