Amid growing concerns over the lack of oversight in the National Assembly, the Opposition’s Chief Whip, Tabitha Sarabo-Halley has asked the Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir, to provide a timeline for the establishment of the Standing Committees pursuant to Standing Order 80.

Sarabo-Halley wrote the Speaker earlier this week seeking an update on the establishment of the Standing Committees.

Standing Order 80 provides for the Committee of Selection, the Public Accounts Committee, the Parliamentary Committee for Constitutional Reform, the Committee on Appointments, the Parliamentary Management Committee, the Sectoral Committees specified in Standing Order 86, and the Parliamentary Oversight Committee on the Security Sector, to be established at the commencement of each National Assembly.

The Opposition Chief Whip said although the Parliament was convened on November 3, and subsequently met on January 26 for the presentation of the National Budget and thereafter for the consideration of the Budget, only two committees have been established to date.

Those two committees are the Committee of Selection and the Business Sub-Committee.

It was against that background that the Opposition Chief Whip sought an update on the committees.

“Given the central oversight, accountability and governance functions performed by these committees, particularly in relation to budget scrutiny, constitutional reform, and security sector oversight, I would be grateful if you could advise on the anticipated timeline for the establishment of the Standing Committees pursuant to Standing Order 80,” the Opposition Chief Whip said in her letter to the Speaker.

MP Sarabo-Halley also enquired whether there were any procedural or administrative issues delaying their constitution.

“Timely establishment of these committees is integral to the effective functioning of the Assembly, and to ensuring that parliamentary oversight mechanisms operate as intended under the Standing Orders,” the Opposition Chief Whip said.

A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament, Ganesh Mahipaul, on Wednesday, also expressed concerned about the Speaker’s failure to appoint the parliamentary committees.

He said the failure to do so is an assault on parliamentary democracy.

He said without these committees there is no oversight.

“Without these committees: there is no financial oversight, as the Public Accounts Committee cannot function; there is no sectoral scrutiny, as the Sectoral Committees remain dormant; there is no internal accountability, as Select Committees are not constituted. This situation represents a collapse of the institutional guardrails of our democracy. Parliamentary oversight is not optional. It is fundamental. The continued failure to establish these committees is a slap in the face of the people of Guyana and a dangerous erosion of transparency, accountability, and good governance,” MP Mahipaul said.

He said it is within the best interest of the country for the Speaker to convene the Committee of Selection, noting that an independent nation, it is important for the country to progress and not regress.

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