The lack of a quorum resulted in the adjournment of the Anguilla House of Assembly sine die on Wednesday morning, January 28. The action brought to a halt the planned agenda for a number of pending matters before the forthcoming general election.
Those matters included the laying on the table of the Public Utilities Commission Annual Report for 2013, and the Anguilla Social Security Board Annual Report for 2011; a set of motions by the Chief Minister; and the first readings of the Parole of Prisoners (Validation) Bill, 2015; the Social Protection Bill, 2015; and the Condominium (Amendment) Bill, 2015.
The forced adjournment of the House stemmed from the absence of the two Anguilla United Front representatives: Leader of the Opposition, Mr Evans McNiel Rogers, and his colleague Mr Othlyn Vanterpool; their fellow opposition member, Mr Edison Baird, a former Minister of Government; and two members on the Government’s side of the House: First Nominated Member, Mr Haydn Hughes, who was off-island; and Mr Walcott Richardson, who has been on sick leave for some time now.
When the Speaker, Mrs Barbara Webster-Bourne, took her seat, Deputy Speaker, Mr Leroy Rogers, stood to his feet and stated: “On a point order, Madam Speaker… In accordance with Section 52 of the Anguilla Constitution, I would like to bring to your attention that there is no quorum in this House and I object to the conduct of business without a quorum. Thank you.”
The Speaker replied: “I observe that there is no quorum in this House; and I would like to call this House officially adjourned. This House is adjourned sine die.”
Chief Minister and Leader of Government Business, Mr Hubert Hughes, attempted to speak on the matter, on another point of order, just before Mr Rogers spoke about the lack of a quorum. He was however disallowed by the Speaker.
It was observed that before the House of Assembly convened, there was a short private meeting between the Chief Minister and the Speaker who invited him to her office.
On Monday this week, January 26, Mr Rogers, Leader of the Opposition, said in a radio statement that the agenda before the House was not that important. He reckoned that the meeting was allegedly intended to give the Government an opportunity to bash the Opposition in the House another time before the general election.
Mr Baird, who agreed with the position taken by his opposition colleagues, was also quoted on the radio as saying that he was not returning to the House, having been unfairly thrown out by the Speaker on a previous occasion.
