BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE Speaker of the National Assembly has ruled that the Notion of Motion of No Confidence filed against him by the Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition is “out of order” and has therefore been dismissed.
Speaker the Hon. Michael Perkins made a statement this morning (Jan. 20) shortly after the House convened during which he addressed the Notice and the amended version which was subsequently filed.
He said it contravenes a number of the Standing Orders which govern the conduct of the National Assembly.
“In making my ruling on the Motion, it is very important for me to advise on the procedure which should be followed whenever a Motion is brought to the attention of the Speaker. Section 27(3) of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly speaks to this and reads: ‘If the Speaker is of opinion that any notice of motion which has been received by the clerk infringes the provision of any standing order, or is in any way out of order, he or she may - I repeat may - direct a. that the member concerned be informed that the notice of motion is out of order or that the notice of motion be entered in the order book with such alterations as he or she may direct’.
The Hon. Speaker said he views himself as being quite tolerant regarding the “unacceptable behaviour” of some members of the Parliament and is very deliberate in his approach.
He took issue then, with the Motion deeming it “fundamentally flawed” with inaccuracies, frivolity, errors adding that “it seriously infringes several of the provisions of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly”.
During the Hon. Perkins' delivery of his ruling, Members of the Opposition made a number of attempts to rise on points of order. However, these were not heard or heeded by the Speaker who had previously informed that the ruling is to be made without disruption. This obviously did not sit well with the Opposition, the Members of which took the decision to leave the Parliament.
Addressing some of the “more serious infringements”, Speaker Perkins said the Motion, in a generalized way, is asking that past rulings of the Chair be reviewed.
“Each previous ruling which is being challenged or asked to be reviewed, and purports to form part of this or any future motion, must be specifically identified with an accompanying details. Nothing short of this is totally unacceptable.”
He also explained that the Motion is in contravention of Section 25(3) of Standing Orders which expressed that “a motion should not contain ‘mere personal opinions or controversial allegations unnecessary to the main issue upon which the National Assembly is being moved to declare its will’.
“I am of the opinion that much of the content of the Motion is exactly that as there are a number of such opinions and allegations instead of statements of facts upon which Parliament would debate and then be asked to pass the necessary resolution.”
The Speaker said “all statements in the Motion which impugn the character of the Speaker or imputes improper motives are in contravention of section 43(5) of the Standing Orders. He concluded that any questioning of the Speaker’s impartiality is in breach of this Standing Orders of the House.
The Opposition’s suggestion in the Motion that notices of meetings of the House, as well as order papers and accompanying bills are “more often than not, delivered late”, was described by the Speaker as “disingenuous”.
The Opposition also claimed that the Speaker failed to provide assistance in the installation of the office of the Opposition Leader.
“The Motion alleges that the Speaker has done nothing to assist in the establishment of an office for the Leader of the Opposition. This statement is utterly misleading as the Speaker has no authority in the setting up of that office as that is a direct matter between the Leader of the Opposition and the executive branch of Government. Notwithstanding this lack of authority in me, I have nevertheless inquired into and urged the executive to seek to have the matter resolved.”
With these and other points expounded upon, the Speaker deemed the Opposition’s Notice of Motion of No Confidence out of order and the matter closed.
He pledged however, any other MoNC brought before the Parliament that is properly constructed and filed “will be treated with priority and would be heard expeditiously in this Honourable Parliament”.
