A shortage of Opposition MPs

When Parliament meets tomorrow the UNC will be short of at least two MPs — one MP is in jail while the other is on suspension. This, coming on the heels of the "loss" of Pointe-a-Pierre MP Gillian Lucky and San Juan/Barataria MP Fuad Khan, to the "independent UNC" bench. This takes the Opposition down from 16 to 12.

Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday is in jail after refusing to secure bail. Panday and his wife, Oma, are charged with corruptly receiving 25,000 pounds sterling as an inducement or reward.

Even though it is public knowledge that Panday cannot come to Parliament, he will have to ask leave of the Speaker. And under the Standing Orders, if he is absent for six consecutive sittings without leave, he will have to vacate his seat.

If convicted of the corruption charge, Panday will be required to vacate his seat in the House of Representatives, according to the Constitution.

Sharma on the other hand, is on suspension for the rest of the session. The session which started on September 10, 2004, has to be prorogued by September 9, 2005.

He was originally suspended for one month for failing to apologise to the House for misleading the Parliament when he told the House that he was physically assaulted by Housing Minister Dr Keith Rowley.

The Parliament decided that Sharma should either apologise or be suspended for one month. When he refused to apologise, he was asked by House Speaker Barry Sinanan to leave Parliament. Sharma refused to leave, even after the Speaker called on the police to evict him.

At this point, his original one-month suspension was superseded by a suspension under Standing Order 43 (10).

Forty-three (10) states, "If any Member, who is ordered to withdraw or who is suspended under this Standing Order, refuses at any time to obey the direction of the Speaker to withdraw from the House and its precincts, the Speaker shall call the attention of the House to the fact that recourse to force is necessary in order to compel obedience to his direction, and the Member named by him as having so refused to obey his direction shall thereupon, without further question put, be suspended from the service of the House during the remainder of the session."

This means that between May 20, the day when Sharma defied the Speaker and September 9, the last possible date of the session, he will not receive his MPs’ salary of $10,000 a month plus a transportation allowance of $2,500.

He also will not receive the allowances for the maintenance of his constituency office — $1,500 for electricity; $600 for telephone and $1,500 postage and general upkeep of his constituency office. He will also not receive $15,000 for staff. This money is usually paid directly to the staff by the Parliament.