BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - WITH the lengthy delay in the tabling of the 15-month-old Motion of No Confidence, some are of the view that a similar motion should be filed against the Speaker of the National Assembly. But former Parliamentarian G. A. Dwyer Astaphan has opined that that would only worsen the constitutional dilemma which the Federation faces.
Speaking with this publication on Sunday (Mar. 30), Astaphan said he believes a Motion of No Confidence against the Speaker of the National Assembly “is available constitutionally”.
However, as he explained, he does not believe that such would take place.
“I don’t hold out any hopes that such an initiative would take place, and even if it did then who would sit in the chair to entertain the Motion? Because, that has an effect on another constitutional issue which this country faces, which is that we do not have a Deputy Speaker.
“The whole thing has been turned on its head by the present incumbents with a number of instances where our Constitution has been abused.”
The lawyer however expressed his agreement with “the concept that there should be on the record a Motion against the Speaker”.
The Motion of No Confidence was filed on December 11, 2012 by the Opposition in the Federal Parliament and it has yet to be tabled in the National Assembly by the Speaker.
Since then, the Opposition has made several calls for the Motion’s expeditious tabling but to no avail. The situation progressed into court action initiated by the Opposition and, recently at the Basseterre High Court, Justice Darshan Ramdhani suggested that the litigants need not appear before him again but rather the Motion should be tabled.
Protest action had also formed part of the Opposition’s cry for the tabling of the Motion.
Astaphan advised those who have been agitating for the Motion to be debated in the Federal Parliament “to continue agitating within the confines of the law”.
