Legal Affairs Minister and Attorney General Anil Nandlall has described 2013 in the National Assembly as having one singular characteristic trend, that is, a relentless attempt by the opposition to trespass into the province of the executive.
Speaking on the television programme, Roundtable, Minister Nandlall noted that though the Constitution has outlined the role and functions of the executive and the legislature, what is discernible since the opposition has had control of the legislature, is “a constant attempt to increase those functional responsibilities, to extend the powers and to extend the jurisdiction of the legislature way beyond that which is contemplated and provided for by the constitution.”
Budget cuts
He noted that this extension of the role of the legislature manifested itself when the opposition cut the 2013 budget despite the court ruling after the 2012 budget that the opposition in the National Assembly has no power to reduce expenditures put forward by the finance minister in the form of the national budget. The court also ruled that it was the role of the finance minister, being a delegate of the president to present those national estimates.
Minister Nandlall said that “when the opposition cut, (the budget) they not only cut, but they put forward their own estimates of a Gy$1 in the instances where they have cut… and they passed those estimates. So in essence, not only have they performed an act of reduction of the estimates, which the constitution forbids them to do, but they have arrogated onto themselves, an executive function, which essentially is the presentation of the estimates”.
No-confidence motion
There is also the case of the opposition passing a no-confidence motion against Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee, which the court and the Speaker of the House later ruled that they had no power to so do.
The opposition also attempted to gag Minister Rohee from speaking in the National Assembly in an effort to censure him, for what they termed incompetent performance of his duties as minister.
“Again if we refer to the Constitution we see that the minister of home affairs is an executive officer, he is a delegate of the president, appointed by the president, and the functions which he performs in the discharge of his ministerial responsibilities are executive functions. If he defaults, or if he is incompetent in the performance of those functional responsibilities, then it is the president who appointed him, who must recall his appointment or censure him. It is not open to the legislature to censure an executive officer in respect of the performance of his executive functions,” Minister Nandlall pointed out.
