By Annette Ferguson MP- In the absence of regular sittings of the National Assembly, I have come to the conclusion that the Jagdeo/Ali regime has NO interest in “Parliamentary Democracy”. The last sitting of the Assembly was on Friday, February 2, 2024 when the National Budget for $1.146 Trillion was passed.
Several questions have been tabled for responses by Ministers of Government. In addition, the irregular convening of Parliamentary Standing Committees’ meetings is another PPP/C roadblock to the effective functioning of Parliament.
On January 7, 2024, my letter captioned, “2023 has ended and many Committees of the National Assembly have not completed their assignments,” was published by your publication. There, I provided information on why the Committee on Appointments hasn’t met since May 2023. I must let readers know that the status quo remains the same. We have completed the first quarter of 2024 and Hon. Madame Gail Teixeira, Chairperson of the Committee, is yet to convene a meeting, to complete the appointment process.
Another matter of grave concern is Hon. Anil Nandlall, the Attorney General’s report to the National Assembly, during his budget presentation, that the regime has several cases pending before the courts. My recollection is that a listing of these cases and related costs was not provided.
In the absence of regular sittings of the National Assembly, I am requesting, by this piece that the Hon. Anil Nandlall, SC, MP, Attorney General, be held accountable by making public the following information, for the period August 2, 2020 and December 31, 2023:
- A list of cases brought before the Courts by the Government, names of lawyers retained and the related costs for each.
- The names of lawyers and the related costs, for each case represented by the Attorney General’s Office on behalf of government officials brought before the courts in their private capacity.