Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir says that on Wednesday he disallowed a request for urgent consideration of a motion on oil spill insurance from APNU+AFC’s Member of Parliament, Ganesh Mahipaul as the request was sub judice.
In a press release published in yesterday’s Stabroek News, Nadir said that the “matter did not qualify as a definite matter of urgent importance” as it was sub judice. The Speaker clarified that he had previously ruled such matters as sub judice “if a judge is assigned to the case, a date is given and the case has reached a stage of evidence before the court.”
Providing a background, Nadir said that at 7:17 p.m. Tuesday, May 9, 2023, “I received the request from Mahipaul for the adjournment of the Assembly”, but that he (Nadir) was already aware from an Inews press release (at 5:10 p.m.) that the “matter” had been appealed. The Speaker is not expected to rely on news reports in making decisions on any parliamentary matter, observers have noted.
The Speaker added that he was also subsequently informed that the matter was fixed before a judge. The Speaker’s press release did not explain how he came to be informed that the “matter” was fixed before a judge.
Further, the release went on to say that “if there was no appeal (before the court), the motion would have disqualified itself under the urgency criterion, as the judge had given the parties thirty days to remedy themselves”. He added that if the judgment had said “immediately” then the motion would have been in order.”
The Speaker insisted in his press release that ever since he assumed office, he has been consistent in his application of the sub judice rules. The Speaker went on to say that “It was mischievous of Hon. Member Mahipaul to bring the motion when he knew fully well that the matter did not qualify.” The release added that Mahipaul “wanted to grandstand” and play for an audience with which, according to the Speaker, the APNU+AFC was familiar with.
