BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – Mr. Glenroy Blanchette, Political Leader of the National Integrity Party, has stated his party’s position on the Motion of No Confidence that was filed by opposition parliamentarians.
In an interview by WINN FM radio which was aired on the VOICES Programme on Thursday 20th June, Blanchette stated that the NIP believes that it is the constitutional right of the Hon. Mark Brantley, Leader of the Opposition, to file the No Confidence Motion and that the Motion should be heard expeditiously.
“We [the NIP] support the view that Motions of No Confidence should be heard expeditiously. It is part of our Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. While the Constitution makes a provision for the tabling of Motions of No Confidence, it does not state a specific time period in which such matters ought to be heard and the Rules of Parliament do not address how such motions should be dealt with. However, the Standing Orders of the National Assembly states that any matter not provided for herein, the Assembly will use the practice of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Nevertheless, this situation gives the Speaker of the National Assembly the ability to exercise discretionary power with regards to the placement of Motions of No Confidence on the Order Paper for parliamentary debate,” said Blanchette.
Blanchette also commented on the move by the opposition parliamentarians to get the Court to order the Speaker of the National Assembly to table the Motion of No Confidence. He said the NIP would not have taken the matter to Court but would have found other means to impress upon parliament to fix a date for the motion to be debated.
“In a recent case in South Africa, the opposition parties asked the court to order the Speaker of the National Assembly to take whatever steps necessary to ensure that the motion of No Confidence is debated urgently at a certain date. The Court found that the rules of the National Assembly do not empower the Speaker to do so, and therefore, the Court could not order the Speaker to do something which the rules of the Assembly did not entitle the Speaker to do,” said Blanchette.
“Judges cannot dictate to parliament when and how to arrange its order of business. The Speaker cannot act outside the rules of parliament and the Court cannot order the Speaker to act outside those rules,” Blanchette added.
The Political Leader of the NIP also declared that a NIP government would have dealt with the Motion of No Confidence in an expeditious manner.
“A NIP government would have dealt with the matter expeditiously because it is a very important matter that ought to be debated. However, the matter is being held up in the Court and so the NIP awaits the Court’s decision,” said Blanchette.
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