NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Former Speaker of the House of Assembly Kendal Major said yesterday that while he privately advised House Speaker Halson Moultrie to do what he felt was in the best interest of deepening democracy concerning his 2015 ruling on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), time will tell whether it improves the democratic function or makes room for the committee to go wild.
“Each speaker has the authority and the sovereignty to do as they wish and make decisions that they see fit for the Parliament that they serve, at the time that they serve,” he told Eyewitness News.
“So, from that standpoint, the honorable speaker has every opportunity to change a decision that he feels is not in the best interest of the sitting Parliament.
“So, from that standpoint, I am not moved by it at all.
“In fact, in my prior conversation with him, that’s one of the suggestions I made: just do what you have to do and be done with it, if that’s [what] you’re faced with.
“So, you know, overall, I am fine with it. For me, I think the most important thing is the consequence of the decision. Does it deepen the democracy of Parliament and does it hold ministers more accountable to the people?
“And if it does that, that’s a good thing; that’s an excellent thing, and I encourage that, and that’s certainly a posture that I’ve always believed in.”
In his first act as an independent speaker, Moultrie repealed Major’s May 2015 ruling and said “in essence, the scope and powers of the Public Accounts Committee is hereby restored”.
The speaker also said the PAC will have the authority to act on information whether or not the source of the information first comes from Parliament through the auditor general.
He added that the opposition-led committee must be uninhibited in its duties to review government expenditure and no attempt to “whittle it down can be entertained”.
Asked whether Moultrie’s repeal of the ruling could allow the committee to overstep as well as set a precedent for future speakers, Major said: “Yes, that was the guarded, nuanced position I took at the time. If you recall, at the time, I was faced with this dilemma. It was dealing with stolen or leaked documents that got into the hands of the PAC and I felt — again, I don’t remember clearly [all] the details — but that’s what drew this to a head.”
He said he believed his decision was made on the mandate that at the very least documents should come through a set of processes and be tabled in the House.
Major continued: “One way, it could be seen as constraining the PAC, and the other way, it could be perceived as allowing the PAC to be absolutely ‘buck wild’ and do what they [need] to do, to who they need to do it, at any time they ready and in any fashion they are ready. Only time will tell.”
Major ruled on the matter three weeks after then Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson determined that the PAC’s move to summon then Urban Renewal Co-Chairs Algernon Allen and Cynthia “Mother” Pratt, after they refused to appear before the PAC, was “illegally improper” because the auditor general’s report had not been laid before Parliament.
Then PAC Chairman Hubert Chipman, as well as PAC members Peter Turnquest and Richard Lightbourn, said the speaker’s ruling effectively rendered the committee useless.
PAC to resume next week
Yesterday, PAC member Chester Cooper said he was advised by PAC Chair Philip Brave Davis, the leader of the opposition, that the committee will resume meeting next week.
“That’s the intention of the PAC, to move swiftly to look at matters that might become the fore,” he said in Parliament.
“Mr Speaker, transparency and accountability have been soapbox issues for this government.
“By not allowing the opposition today to have its question time, it has been most hypocritical and these actions define this administration’s real view on the issue of transparency and accountability, and it is most regrettable.”
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