Parliament Office now among constitutional autonomous bodies-House unanimously passes bill

ParliamentGeorgetown: The National Assembly today passed the Constitution (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 2015-Bill No. 20 of 2015.

 Minister of Finance Winston Jordan who presented the bill on behalf of the Government, explained that the purpose of the bill is to add the Parliament Office to the several constitutional bodies which are now fiscally autonomous.

 To this end, the bill amends the Third Schedule to the Constitution to add the Parliament Office.

Since taking office, the government has moved several pieces of legislation to prevent the Executive from micro managing the finances of budgetary agencies as part of ensuring the autonomy of these bodies that serve the Guyanese people.

 The House had on June 9, 2015 passed the Constitutional (Amendment) Bill, paving the way for several commissions and offices to have administrative control over monies allocated to them for their functioning.

The passage of the bill amends the Third Schedule relating to article 222 A of the Constitution, by assuring independence to those entities listed therein. These include the Ethnic Relations Commission, the Human Rights Commission, the Women and Gender Equality Commission, the Indigenous People’s Commission, the Rights of the Child Commission, the Judiciary and the Office of the Auditor General. It also brings under 222 A (Third Schedule) of the Constitution, several other commissions and agencies that were being funded through the Ministry of Finance. It provides for them to now be financially autonomous, and to draw their funds directly from the Consolidated Fund. These include the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecution, the Judicial Service Commission, the Public Service Commission, the Police Service Commission, the Teaching Service Commission, the Public Service Appellate Tribunal, the Public Procurement Commission, the Office of the Ombudsman and the Guyana Elections Commission.

The Constitution (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 2015-Bill No. 20 of 2015 seeks to capture,the Parliament Office, that was missed in the earlier exercise.