November 20, 2013
Hon. Barbara Webster-Bourne
Speaker of the House of Assembly,
The Valley,
Anguilla
West Indies
Dear Madam Speaker,
We, the Members of the Opposition, wish to place on record our profound dissatisfaction with your conduct and management of the affairs of the House of Assembly over the years. In particular, your egregious conduct in the House of Assembly on October 25, 2013, in which you supervised and facilitated the enactment of the Framework for Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2013 and the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Agreement (Amendment) Act, 2013.
These Acts were passed in an arbitrary, undemocratic, and in our opinion, an unconstitutional manner: there was no quorum. The absence of a minimum number of Members to conduct business, legitimately, was brought to your attention by several Members of the House, namely, the Hon. Attorney General, Mr. James Woods, QC; the Hon. Acting Deputy Governor, Mr. Larry Franklin; and the Second Nominated Member and Deputy Speaker, the Hon. Leroy Rogers.
After informing you of the absence of a quorum and before the passage of the two Acts in question, the above mention members left the Legislative Chamber.
In addition, two Members of the Opposition were not properly informed of the emergency meeting called by you to address the said two bills, and the other member was not informed at all. Troubling too is the fact that the three readings of each Bill were done at the same sitting.
The second factor is our unshakable conviction that Legislation should only be passed when supported by the majority of the Elected Members. This point was succinctly made in the High Court Case of Hubert Hughes, the Applicant; and Leroy Rogers, the Respondent, Civil Suits Nos. 99 & 101 of 1999. Addressing the quorum issue, Justice Saunders, as he was then, said that the quorum was one of the highest in the Commonwealth. He further stated that, “the Attorney General submits that by this requirement it was intended that the majority of the elected members should be present in order to constitute a quorum, “ and, by implication, pass Legislation.
Finally, an observation of your conduct as Speaker in the House shows that you have scant regard, and, at times, none at all, for the Rules of Procedure. For example, you deliberately delayed passage of the Education Act 2012, claiming that it needed more public consultation. In fact, Mr. Wilhelm Bourne, the Attorney General at the time, advised you that you did not have the authority to delay passage of the Bill. Nevertheless, you ignored him.
We the Members of the Opposition must act NOW to secure democracy and the integrity of this Honorable House. We cannot stand by and allow the House to be used as a rubber stamp. In these circumstances it would be remiss of us not to place on record our concerns in relation to your irresponsible and unacceptable conduct in the House. Your conduct pierces the very heart of proper parliamentary procedure and threatens the very fabric of our democratic society.
Sincerely,
Evans McNiel Rogers
Leader of the Opposition &
Member for Valley North
Othlyn O. Vanterpool
Member for Island Harbour
Edison A. Baird
Member for Road North
cc. All Members of the HoA
H.E. Christina Scott, Governor
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