Opposition Absent From 1st Sitting Of Parliament

Opposition leader the hon. Baldwin Spencer has indicated that his party will boycott Wednesday’s sitting of the House of Representatives.

The Lower House is expected to meet to select a Speaker and Deputy Speaker, and for the Members to subscribe to the oath of allegiance.

The opposition contends that a sitting of the House requires, by at least seven days’ notice, which the party contends is constitutionally and legally mandatory.

A release from the party indicates that there seems to be a misconception that a meeting of the House for the purposes of electing a Speaker and Deputy Speaker does not constitute a sitting.

In a letter to the Clerk to Parliament Ramona Small, the opposition leader outlines that according to the Constitution, before the House proceeds to dispatch any other business when it first meets after a general election, it shall elect a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker.

The correspondence also indicates that no business other than the election of a Speaker shall be transacted in the House at any time when the office of Speaker is vacant.