Public to have say on bill to penalize persons appointed to House who do not attend – PM

The public will have the opportunity to weigh in on a bill that has been drafted to penalize monetarily, persons who are appointed to Parliament, but do not attend.{{more}}

Attorney General Judith Jones-Morgan and the staff at the Attorney General’s office have already presented the first draft of the bill to Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, who said on Tuesday that he will discuss certain parts of the draft with the Attorney General.

Gonsalves, however, noted that while he wants the bill on the order paper for the next sitting of Parliament on February 22, it will not be heard at that time, but will instead be placed in the public domain through the media for open discussion.

“I have some comments on it and I am hoping to have the bill cleaned up in time to be on the order paper for Monday’s sitting, but not to proceed without discussion with the public, as we normally do with bills of this kind,” said the Prime Minister on Star Radio on Tuesday morning.

He said that he has studied the draft carefully and after it is cleaned up, it will be published in the media for comments.

Opposition Members of Parliament have been boycotting sessions of Parliament in protest of the outcome of the December 9, 2015 General Elections, which they say were stolen.