The main opposition APNU yesterday ratcheted up its opposition to a ruling by Speaker Raphael Trotman to allow Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee’s full participation in the National Assembly, a day after calling it riddled with errors and of questionable legal soundness.
The ruling issued by Trotman on Friday, without prior notice, came down against the opposition’s moves to gag Rohee in the National Assembly and said that the minister will be allowed to participate fully in parliamentary life.
“APNU rejects the ruling,” said APNU’s Shadow Minister of Legal Affairs Basil Williams as he read from a press statement yesterday at a news conference, with executive members Chief Whip Amna Ally, Deputy Speaker Debra Backer and Lance Carberry present.
“The Speaker’s diktat was handed down without giving the majority opposition and the minority government an opportunity to make their contributions on the issue, in a debate in the National Assembly,” he added
Williams reiterated APNU’s stance on having the matter debated, saying that after the debate and all positions were heard, the Speaker could then make his decision. “We firmly believe that this matter must come in the National Assembly for debate and if the Speaker then desires to make the ruling that he has sent out, then he could feel free to do that,” he said.
He opined that Rohee’s record as Minister of Home Affairs shows an increase in crime in the country, which he said is illustrative of his incompetence.
He pointed to mass murders, such as the Lusignan, Bartica and Lindo Creek massacres and the killing of three persons last July in Linden while protests were ongoing. “He has failed miserably in that office. There have been massacres on his watch. Everything possible that you think that is bad happened under his watch… Do we need to go through this litany?” asked.
Both Williams and Backer also criticised the decision by Trotman to first present the ruling to the media. “This unprecedented and undemocratic step in imposing his ruling on the Members of the National Assembly through the media and television without giving them a hearing in the National Assembly does not bode well for the future conduct of the people’s business in the National Assembly,” Williams said.
Questioned if APNU felt that too much attention was being spent on “gagging” Rohee at the cost of attention being paid to other matters, Williams disagreed. “We have committees meeting… a lot of work is going on, you know. We are not hands down over this Rohee debate… we come in all other departments…. We are carrying on with our business… this is not a matter that comes up every session… the majority of work is done in committees… we are doing a lot of work,” he said.
Backer, meanwhile, informed that APNU will remain resolute in having Rohee removed as Home Minister and will use all legal means to see it done. “We remain resolute that Mr. Rohee is incompetent to perform as the minister and we will continue to explore every legitimate means of having him not continue to be responsible for this very critical portfolio,” she said.
Observers have noted that Trotman’s ruling came out of the blue and reversed earlier positions he had held.
Trotman earlier said that he would await a ruling of the court on a case that Attorney General Anil Nandlall brought challenging his decision to limit Rohee’s participation in Parliament until the Privileges Committee of Parliament had ruled on the issue.
Asked about his edict despite earlier stating that he would await a decision of the court, Trotman said he had continued to do research after an initial ruling that he was not convinced that the House had the power(s) to pass, and enforce the Resolution proposed in the Motion. “I was convinced in my mind that my original decision was right,” he told Stabroek News last Friday, adding that his research upheld that view. As such, he said, he did not need to await the court ruling on the matter.
