Gracita: Rules of Order provide no grounds for revote on motions

~ Governor has no role in process ~

PHILIPSBURG--The Constitution and Rules of Order of Parliament provide no option for a revote on a motion if a Member of Parliament (MP) votes on a topic deemed personally related to him/her, President of Parliament Gracita Arrindell told The Daily Herald on Sunday evening.

The issue of an MP voting on a motion that has a personal reference was raised by opposition National Alliance (NA) leader MP William Marlin during a Parliament session last week.

He queried whether it was correct and constitutional for MP Jules James (UP) to vote on the NA motion tabled against his verbal dismissal in October of workers of Simpson Bay Resort (formerly Pelican Resort), where James is the general manager. The motion sought to condemn his actions and to instruct government to seek an urgent remedy for the impasse with the workers and the resort management.

The motion was voted down with six votes from the NA and seven votes from the United People's (UP) party/Democratic Party (DP)/Illidge coalition in a public meeting of Parliament requested by NA in November.

Arrindell said Parliament's legal team comprising the three general secretaries, headed by Jozef Semelaar, had reviewed the legal situation and had come to the conclusion that there was no ground for a revote as requested by Marlin. "All that can be done is to take up what happened in the minutes."

A spinoff from this matter is a letter from Governor Eugene Holiday, who wrote to Parliament "asking about" a possible violation of article 53, subsection 1 of the Constitution. That article states: "The members of the Parliament shall abstain from voting on issues or appointments, including suspensions and dismissals, that personally affect them, their spouses, and their relations by blood or marriage up to and including the second degree, or in which they are involved as proxies."

Arrindell met with Holiday on Wednesday to discuss the subject. She explained that the governor's function of overseeing Parliament's work came in when a law was sent to him to sign and if there were issues with the way it had been passed. "This is a situation of a motion, not a law. The governor has no role at this point."

The issue of a revote also was explained in a meeting of the parliamentary group leaders at the end of last week. Arrindell said all the documents and information gathered by the legal team and the letter from Holiday had been provided to the leaders. "The only one missing from the discussions was the NA leader [William Marlin, ed.]. He came in late at the point when the meeting was ending," she said.

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/23373-gracita-rules-of-order-provide-no-grounds-for-revote-on-motions-.html

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