The National Assembly’s Standing Orders Committee has recommended the removal of the voting privilege of a non-elected member of parliament on a committee but provides for a party to nominate an elected member to vote in that member’s stead.
“Unless otherwise provided for in these Standing Orders, any member of the assembly, whether elected or non-elected, shall be eligible for membership of any committee, providing that a non-elected member shall not have the right to vote therein; and the party with a non-elected member shall nominate an additional elected member to preserve the voting strength of the parties in the committee,” the amendment agreed to by the committee, said. The amendment covers Standing Orders 80(5), 88(2) and 93(2).
A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) parliamentarian, Basil Williams on March 19 had moved a motion in the National Assembly seeking to amend those Standing Orders. Those rules had allowed non-elected members to vote in committees. Williams’ amendment sought to ensure that
