Deputy Premier Dr. the Honourable Kedrick D. Pickering (R7) said that then acting Speaker of the House of Assembly Honourable Delores Christopher (R5) acted in accordance with the Standing Orders on August 14, 2014 and as such her ruling cannot be overruled even by the substantive Speaker of the House of Assembly Ingrid A. Moses. Photo: VINO/File

He made the statement while delivering a speech under the agenda item ‘Statements by Ministers’ during the Ninth Sitting of the Third Session of the Second House of Assembly yesterday September 11, 2014.

“Madame Speaker, with your kind permission, I wish to make a Statement regarding the adjournment of this Honourable House at its immediate last sitting and the decision taken by the then presiding Speaker,” he said.

“And Madame Speaker, I do so in my capacity as the Acting Leader of Government Business and only for the purpose of clearing the air regarding the decorum of this Honourable House and for preserving the role and integrity of the Office of Speaker, especially as it relates to the Speaker’s exercise of powers regarding the interpretation and implementation of the Standing Orders of this House,” he said.

“Madame Speaker, following the immediate last sitting of this Honourable House, questions had been raised as to whether that sitting had been properly concluded. It is important to note, as we all accept, that the proceedings of this House are governed by rules and procedures comprised in the Standing Orders,” said Dr. the Hon Pickering.

He said that the Standing Orders are by no means one hundred percent comprehensive in terms of the procedures of the House and, “while reference may be made to the practice in the United Kingdom House of Commons to seek necessary guidance on any particular subject matter, the Speaker’s first source of reference is the Standing Orders of this House.”

He noted that the role of the Speaker therefore is not only to regulate the conduct of business in the House, but also to serve as the final arbiter of issues of divergent opinion that arise from time to time.

“Paragraph (4) of Standing Order 6 makes it clear that in the absence of the Speaker, ‘the Deputy Speaker shall take the Chair and shall be invested with all the powers of the Speaker’ and this role may be performed until the next sitting of the House or for 24 hours, whichever period is the shorter. By virtue of paragraph (5) of the same Standing Order, the Speaker has the ‘power to regulate the conduct of business in all matters not provided for in [the] Standing Orders,” said Dr. the Hon Pickering.

Continuing to refer to the Standing Orders, the Hon Deputy Premier stated, “The quorum of this House is 7 by virtue of the Virgin Islands Constitution Order 2007. Pursuant to paragraph (3) of Standing Orders 9, the Speaker is empowered to adjourn the House when a quorum is not present to continue with the business of the House.”

“The Standing Orders do not specifically indicate how the adjournment should be taken or pronounced. Accordingly, it is only appropriate that the Speaker falls back on the power granted in paragraph (5) of Standing Orders 6 to make a determination as the Speaker considers appropriate in all the circumstances,” said the Deputy Premier.

“Madame Speaker, at the last immediate sitting of this House, the presiding Speaker exercised her powers in consonance with the Standing Orders and adjourned the House sine die. That was the decision of the presiding Speaker and it behooves all Honourable Members of this House to respect and abide by the decision of the Speaker, especially considering that prior to the Speaker taking her decision no Honourable Member of this House rose on a point of order to advise the Speaker otherwise,” he said.

He said that one of the very important factors to the success of any Parliamentary democracy is the respect accorded not only to the Office of Speaker, but also the decisions made by the Speaker.

“In that context, not only would it be unlawful for the substantive Speaker to seek to overrule the decisions of the Deputy Speaker presiding at the material time, but such an action would be a recipe for problems that will, without a doubt, seriously disrupt the efficient and effective functioning of the House,” he said.