It is expected that Private Motions will be given priority when Parliament convenes on May 9.
However, it is undetermined as of now if the Opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) is down to move any motions, and if they do, whether they will be able to do so.
Prime Minister and Leader of the House, Dr Ralph Gonsalves said on radio on May 8 that private members’ motions will be given priority as it was the third Parliamentary meeting for the year, but under the rules of the House, they must be heard before 5 o’clock.
“And what happens is this, the opposition puts down a motion, if you ask you full quota of questions, we usually finish the questions by 2p.m.” Gonsalves explained.
This session often continued well after 2 p.m. the prime minister insisted depending on the time taken during the ‘Obituary’ and ‘Congratulatory’ remarks.
“So often, there is not a lot of time to discuss any motion,” Gonsalves said.
Back in 2020, members of the opposition accused members of the government of using ministerial statements to ensure that their motion did not come up for debate before 5 p.m. during a Sitting of Parliament then.
The motion at that time, which was tabled by Dr Godwin Friday, Leader of the Opposition and which was seeking the establishment of a task force to assist government in developing policies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Senator Ashelle Morgan is expected to table a motion and according to Gonsalves, he had requested that the ICC World Cup West Indies Bill be brought forward saying that he wanted it to be passed and sent to the Governor General for assent and for it to be published in the gazette very quickly.
However, Ministerial statements from Camillo Gonsalves, Saboto Caesar, then Health Minister Luke Browne and PM Gonsalves saw Parliament breaking for lunch at 2:15 p.m.
It reconvened at 4:15 p.m. with ‘Questions for Oral Answers’.