AFC opposed to recall legislation -Holder
Stabroek News
December 11, 2006
The AFC is opposed to any recall legislation being placed on the legislative agenda because it is "highly improper and a violation of Common-wealth principles," AFC Vice Chairman Sheila Holder says.
The legislation, if passed, would require MPs to give up their seats in Parliament if they are recalled by the political parties they represent.
Asked about the proposal, Holder told Stabroek News that President Bharrat Jagdeo placed the issue of recall legislation before the AFC leadership in an engagement he had with them shortly after the elections in his effort at reaching out to opposition parties.
Holder said the AFC was presented with an agenda of matters that PNCR-1G Leader Robert Corbin and Jagdeo had agreed would be discussed. "Nothing much has happened since," she said.
She said the AFC was against recall legislation because it was a direct violation of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association principles that the President himself signed on to.
These principles make provision for the independence of parliamentarians, freedom of speech etc and state that parliamentary independence is fundamental to their role therefore the expulsion of members of parliament as a penalty for leaving their parties or crossing the floor should be viewed as encroaching on members' independence.
The principles state, too, that defection measures may be necessary in some jurisdictions to deal with corrupt practices but laws allowing for recall of members during their elected term should be viewed with caution and as a potential threat to the independence of members.
It states that the cessation of membership of a political party itself should not lead to the loss of a member's seat.
Holder is of the view that recall legislation was only brought about because she and AFC leader Khemraj Ramjattan did not give up their parliamentary seats even after, in the case of Ramjattan, expulsion from the PPP/C. She herself was campaigning for the AFC and no longer representing the WPA.
According to the parliamentary principles, she said, they had the right to do what they did. She feels the proposed recall legislation is meant to control MPs, to have them "toe the line" and if they step out of line, they would be recalled.