PM: Amendment to change number of THA seats soon
Dr Keith Rowley
THE Prime Minister has said amendments to the THA (Tobago House of Assembly) Act will be drafted and debated in Parliament in a few days.
Dr Rowley was speaking at a press conference at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann s on Wednesday afternoon.
Last Monday, there was a six-six deadlock between the PNM and the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) in the THA election. Since then, a presiding officer and chief secretary are yet to be chosen.
Rowley said this was something that should not be allowed to fester for too long.
PNM Tobago Council political leader Tracy Davidson-Celestine - Jeff K Mayers
Political leader of the PNM Tobago Council Tracy Davidson-Celestine said her party will never support a nominee for THA presiding officer put forward by the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP), or vice versa.
Last Monday s THA election saw both parties tied 6-6 and the deadlock continued within the assembly with the failure –on two occasions – to agree on a presiding officer.
The PNM nominated TRHA chairman Ingrid Melville while the PDP nominated THA Department of Youth Affairs programme co-ordinator Julien Skeete.
Monday s sitting, the second since the assemblymen took their oaths of office, was adjourned until Thursday after both parties again stood firm on their proposed candidates. However, the PDP accused the Clerk of the Assembly of bias towards the PNM and said the framers of the THA Act intended for a marathon sitting until a presiding officer was selected.
PDP to sue Clerk of the THA
Tuesday 2 February 2021
PDP political leader Watson Duke, front left, and deputy political leader Farley Augustine, front right, talk to the media on Tuesday morning after spending the night at the Assembly Legislature, Scarborough in protest of the Clerk of the Assembly s decision to suspend Monday s sitting. PHOTO BY JEFF K MAYERS -
The Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) said it has initiated legal action against the office of the Clerk of the THA for failing to properly carry out the process of electing a presiding officer.
The PDP assemblymen, led by the party s political leader Watson Duke, slept in the assembly’s chamber on Monday night in protest against the decision by Clerk of the Assembly Myrna Mc Leod to suspend the meeting without having elected a presiding officer.
Chief Secretary Ancil Dennis -
Chief Secretary Ancil Dennis has called for the resignation of all secretaries who did not seek re-election in last Monday s THA election.
In an address on Sunday evening, Dennis acknowledged the unprecedented political turmoil left after the People s National Movement (PNM) and Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) won six seats each – the first deadlock ever in the 40-year history of the THA.
Dennis lamented that the THA Act allowed the incumbents to remain in office.
He described it as a situation I do not relish.
However, he said, Notwithstanding what the law says, I am prepared to request the resignation of those secretaries who did not seek re-election and were, therefore, replaced as assemblymen.
CAMILLE McEACHNIE
The Second Sitting of the Tobago House of Assembly’s (THA) Legislature, scheduled to continue voting for a Presiding Officer on February 1, 2021, resulted in another deadlock.
The People’s National Movement (PNM) is proposing a new candidate for presiding officer.
The first Sitting took place last week, on Thursday 28 January 2021.
The PNM and the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP), who were sworn in by President Paula-Mae Weekes on January 28th, nominated Ingrid Melville and Julien Skeete, respectively, for the post of Presiding Officer.
Both parties won six seats each at the January 25th THA elections, a deadlock unparalleled in Tobago’s history.