Hazel in contempt of Parliament

EDUCATION MINISTER Hazel Manning could find herself in contempt of Parliament if she does not answer five questions which have been on the House of Representatives’ Order Paper since March. In a letter to House Speaker Barry Sinanan Friday, Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar (in whose name the questions were filed) recalled that during the May 14 sitting of the Lower House, those questions were on the day’s Order Paper for Manning to answer.

Persad-Bissessar said Manning had violated Standing Order 19(7) which states: “Questions which have not received an oral answer by 2.15 o’clock in the afternoon shall be answered in writing by the Minister to whom the question was addressed, and copies of the answer shall be sent immediately after that to the member in whose name the question stood on the Order Paper and cause the answer to be circulated with the Minutes of Proceedings, unless at any time before 2.15 o’clock in the afternoon the Member having a question on the Order Paper but whose name has not yet been called by the Speaker signifies to the Clerk at the Table his desire to postpone the question to a later sitting or withdraw it.” She said Manning has not complied to date with Standing Order 19(7) and “her non-compliance is all the more objectionable in light of the fact that these questions were received from me by the Clerk on January 30, 2004, released on March 2, 2004 and qualified for the Order Paper on March 24, 2004.

“It is clear from Erskine May’s Parliamentary Practice, 29 edition, that disobedience to the Rules (Standing Orders) of the House is a contempt of the House,” the UNC MP declared, and called for the matter to be referred to the Privileges Committee of the Lower House. Speaking on the adjournment of sitting of the Lower House, Opposition Chief Whip Ganga Singh said the UNC had not received those answers as yet. Sinanan criticised the “inordinate delay” in the provision of those answers and asked Leader of Government Business Ken Valley to ensure that those answers are supplied at Wednesday’s sitting of the Lower House. Valley assured Sinanan that this would be done.