President Donald Ramotar this morning issued a proclamation to prorogue Parliament, Speaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman has confirmed.
However, Trotman said there may still be a sitting of Parliament today since the proclamation has not yet been published in the Official Gazette as is required under the General Clauses of the Laws of Guyana, Chapter 10: 0, Section 21. The Speaker said that once the proclamation is not in the Official Gazette by 2 pm today then a sitting will be held but he made it clear that there is time for this to be done via an “extraordinary publication.”
The move to prorogue was widely anticipated as it would give the government up to six months without having to reconvene Parliament. Analysts however have said this is an unprecedented use of the prorogation option which has anti-democratic facets and would be seen as a patent attempt to avoid the opposition’s motion of no-confidence which was likely to bring down the government and trigger fresh elections. Without Parliamentary approval, analysts say that spending of public funds during the prorogation period will be a major issue.
Government spokesmen have suggested that the prorogation will permit further talks between the government and the opposition on a Parliamentary agenda. The opposition has however said that many previous attempts at dialogue have been barren and the government shows no interest in compromise.
The proclamation preempts what would have been the opposition’s most potent use of its one-seat majority in Parliament following the 2011 elections. The period has been marked by numerous clashes between the two sides over three budgets and a clutch of laws which has seen the government seeking frequent recourse to the courts.
While the prorogation can last for six months, the President can recall Parliament at any time. The move by Ramotar to prorogue came even though it was the government that had set the date for today’s sitting of Parliament.
When the opposition had first floated the move to the motion of no-confidence, government spokesmen had said that they were prepared for the outcome of its consideration in parliament – immediate general elections.
