-says won’t take ‘flimsy’ excuses for non-attendance
Vishnu Panday of WIN was yesterday elected chair of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament and said he won’t be accepting ‘flimsy’ excuses for absences which have stymied meetings in the past.
A change to the quorum of the PAC in 2022 has hobbled meetings of the PAC.
“We want to ensure that people attend meetings. We are not going to take flimsy excuses. The excuses for not attending must be scrutinised,” Panday, a former GuySuCo executive, told Kiskadee Watch after his appointment at Parliament Buildings in Georgetown. He was speaking in the context of the backlog of matters that is before the PAC for which he said the absenteeism of committee members is largely responsible for.
Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir yesterday convened a meeting for the election of chairpersons to eight parliamentary committees.
These elections have been delayed for months and this has sparked public consternation.
Apart from Panday, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall SC was elected Chairman of the Constitutional Reform Committee. Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Gail Teixeira was chosen to head the Committee on Appointments, and Prime Minister Mark Phillips was appointed Chairman of the Security Sector Committee.
We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) MP Duarte Hetsberger was elected Chairman of the Economic Services Committee, Minister of Human Services and Social Security Vindhya Persaud was appointed Chairperson of the Social Services Committee, WIN MP Odessa Primus was chosen to head the Foreign Relations Committee, and Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat was elected Chairman of the Natural Resources Committee.
While several MPs commented on the smooth and efficient process in which the appointments were made yesterday, common complaints from them included the backlog of matters plaguing the PAC, the infrequent meetings that are called, and the absenteeism of committee members, especially those representing the government.
It is especially these issues that the new PAC chairman pledged to address with urgency.
“Meetings were not called frequently and because of that, there has been a humbug or delay dealing with matters of national interests. It is my desire to put an end to that,” he declared. “I want to look back at all of the documentations from the last report which was completed in 2018…. Then I will carve the way forward, which has to be very urgent.”
He spoke about the importance of mutual respect among members, saying that such respect should extend to everyone as they work toward the common goal of advancing the country through transparency and accountability. Panday added that he intends to ensure that discipline is maintained within the committee, noting that past records showed that members who were often absent did so under various pretexts that prevented disciplinary action. He said addressing those issues would be among his key priorities.
But Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh dismissed suggestions that the government members were deliberately trying to stymie the efforts of those committees. “Those accusations are completely baseless. The PAC since time immemorial…. has worked harmoniously; both sides of the house to discharge its important mandate. That has been an indispensable feature that has contributed to the important work of this committee,” he said in an interview with Kiskadee Watch.
“The record reflects that the PAC has been meeting with no less frequency that it has historically and very importantly, it’s essential that the proceedings of the PAC not be pursued with undue haste. We want to see a convening of the PAC in a manner that allows for careful and thorough consideration of the matters before it,” he added.
Singh described the committees as an important part of Parliament’s structure, noting that they function on an ongoing basis and that the election of their chairpersons marked a significant milestone in the life of the current Parliament. He contended that it was the PPP/C government that championed the inclusion in the Standing Orders of a provision requiring that the chairmanship of the PAC be held by a member of the opposition. He noted that prior to that amendment, the practice had been based solely on parliamentary convention inherited by successive administrations.
On April 13, 2022, the PPP/C government forced through an amendment to the PAC quorum rule which the opposition has charged has resulted in fewer meetings and meetings being abruptly called off.
The PPP/C amended Section 95 (6) of the Standing Orders which had stated that the quorum for the PAC was three members including the chairman. The amendment changed the quorum to five of which two must be members of the government side. Following the amendment, dozens of PAC meetings were called off because of the absences of government members.
Meanwhile, Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister Kwame Mc Coy said he had no thoughts to share on the appointment of Panday. “Let’s wait to see whether his chairmanship will be the equivalent of the failure that he led at GuySuCo,” he quipped.
WIN Parliamentarian Tabitha Sarabo-Halley reflected on the reality that although committees have been equipped with their chair in the past, the issue arises when it’s time to call meetings.
“For one reason or the other, persons are not available, can’t make it,” she said, adding, “Our understanding is that the PPP is very hesitant to go through anything from 2021 moving forward, so I think they will stall as much as humanly possible from us moving from the 2019 Auditor General’s Report to going into their tenure while in government. But we will push and see how much pressure we can put on them to ensure that we can keep those meetings.”
A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) MP Juretha Fernandes said that cooperation between government and opposition members on the PAC had been lacking, arguing that changes made by the government to the quorum requirements had not served the committee well. According to her, the requirement for at least two government members to be present had been used to justify absences from meetings, contributing to the backlog. However, she expressed hope that better judgment would prevail and that government members would attend meetings more regularly to allow the committee to make progress.
Other APNU MP Dr Riaz Rupnarain said he had little optimism that committee meetings would be held regularly, citing previous experiences and the history of how such bodies have operated over the years. He contended that the committees had generally failed to meet as frequently as they should and noted that even if meetings were convened consistently, the issue of securing a quorum would still have to be addressed.
Dexter Todd, another APNU MP, said he did not foresee any significant cooperation between the government and opposition, arguing that the two sides held fundamentally different views on transparency and accountability. He observed that the opposition had long advocated for greater accountability, while the PPP/C administration had done little to implement measures that would enhance transparency.
Todd further said that the government, which he said controls the largest treasury in the country’s history, is primarily focused on spending rather than ensuring the quality and effectiveness of that expenditure.
Other government ministers declined to comment.
Discussion