Parliamentarians may face monetary penalization if proposed bill is passed

A Bill will soon be tabled in Parliament that will allow the Government to withhold or deduct the salaries of Members of Parliament who do not have a valid reason for not attending and taking part in sittings of the House of Assembly.

Attorney General Judith Jones-Morgan and the staff at the Attorney General’s office are said to be working on the first draft of the bill{{more}} that will allow for the monetary penalization of persons who are elected or nominated to Parliament, but do not contribute during sessions.

On Monday, Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, speaking during a press conference at Cabinet Room, said that “sooner rather than later,” he expects to get a draft copy of that bill from the Attorney General.

He said that when the bill is presented to him, he will reflect on it, discuss it with the AG’s chambers, iron out any kinks and bring it to Cabinet for approval.

“The people of this country know when I say something I mean it. I don’t talk with any water inside of my mouth; there is a principle here,” said the Prime Minister.

Gonsalves noted that Minister of Economic Planning, Sustainable Development, Industry, Information and Labour Camillo Gonsalves had noted during the first sitting of Parliament on January 29 this year that in several countries across the world, including Canada and other well established democratic countries, “Members of Parliament are penalized for deliberately absenting themselves from meetings of the House.”

He said that there are some countries where this matter is taken so seriously, persons who miss three meetings and not six, lose their seat in Parliament.

The Prime Minister said that St Vincent and the Grenadines has one of the longest time frames in terms of missing sittings before the seat is declared vacant.

“There are countries which have legislation that say if you turn up and leave, that is not a presence; you have to vote on matters before the House,” said Dr Gonsalves, who added that in St Vincent and the Grenadines we have had a laissez-faire system, where persons were behaving reasonably, but now the behaviour is unreasonable and the system must be addressed by law.

“I am hoping that I can get it (the bill) on the order paper for the 22nd [February]. It wouldn’t be heard on the 22nd, because the first order of business is to deal with the Appropriation Bill, but once it is on the Order Paper, it will be dealt with sooner or later,” said the Prime Minister.

He said that if the matter is not dealt with, the Government would be paying persons for not doing what they have sworn to do.

Opposition members of Parliament have vowed to boycott sessions of Parliament as a form of protesting the outcome of the December 9, 2015 General Elections.(LC)