Opposition legislator Julian Robinson has contended that the longer the House Speaker holds on to the attorney general’s opinion on the tabling of reports from the auditor general and the Integrity Commission, the more the delay will fuel speculation that it was unfavourable.
Juliet Holness, who was elected Speaker in late September after the resignation of Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert, had indicated to Robinson during the October 10 sitting of the House that she would respond to him the following day as to whether he would receive a copy of the attorney general’s opinion.
“I don’t think that there is a challenge asking that the information be shared. The attorney general would have written directly to the Speaker, but I do not see an issue with members asking for and being copied with the opinion so far,” Holness said.
She told Robinson then that the attorney general’s opinion was a “lot of information to process”, adding “I will respond to you in the morning.”
However, following an exchange between the Speaker and Robinson yesterday, Holness said: “The House did not write the attorney general. The Speaker did.”
The Speaker also said that she would have dialogue with Senate President Tom Tavares-Finson, Leader of Government Business Edmund Bartlett and Deputy House Leader Olivia Grange in relation to her own view as presiding officer.
Robinson, the member of parliament for St Andrew South Eastern, argued that the former Speaker could not have sought an opinion in her personal capacity, but as the presiding officer of the House, she would have requested the opinion on behalf of the Parliament.
“The opinion was sought because there was a dispute between how the former Speaker treated with these reports and the Opposition’s views as to how they should be dealt with,” he said.
Dalrymple-Philibert reversed a decades-old convention in July this year when she refused to table reports from the auditor general and Integrity Commission promptly. Calling herself a “dodo bird”, the former Speaker said she had been following the tradition “in following certain instructions without asking for the relevant law”.
She indicated on July 4 that she would discontinue the practice of tabling reports from the Auditor General’s Department immediately, but would hold them for two months in keeping with Section 30(2) of the Financial Administration and Audit Act.
Also in July, the Speaker had signalled that she would be following Standing Order 73D in relation to the review of the Integrity Commission reports by the Integrity Commission Oversight Committee.
An interpretation of Standing Order 73D was also sought from the Attorney General’s Chambers.
Yesterday, Speaker Holness said she had reviewed the attorney general’s opinion in relation to reports from the Integrity Commission.
OPINION ‘NOT FINAL’
However, she said that the opinion in relation to reports from the auditor general “was not final”. She indicated that she had written to the attorney general to provide a final opinion on the matter.
“I am not mindful to have it be the thought process that the legal opinion from the Attorney General’s Chambers means that that is the stipulation for the House, and as such, I will crave your indulgence a little more,” she said.
“I am very strong in my own perception of Speaker. We have to be very careful in believing that seeking advice means that the House is to feel that another body can stipulate how we function as a House,” she added.
However, Robinson reasoned that regardless of whether the Speaker agreed with the opinion, she should share the information so that lawmakers could debate the issue.
Bartlett, who commented on the discussion, said that the Standing Orders was silent on when the reports from the Integrity Commission should be tabled.
He urged parliamentarians to give the Speaker time to “review and then to come to the House appropriately to indicate her position”.
On the question of whether the opinion should be released to lawmakers, Bartlett said: “It is the purview of the Speaker to determine the extent to which she will go in terms of sharing even that bit of information.”
In July, constitutional lawyer Dr Lloyd Barnett told The Gleaner that all government departments and agencies are subject to the accounting role of the auditor general and that reports from her office must be submitted to the Speaker for tabling without the exercise of any discretion.
edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com
