Breaking News - Houses of Parliament Says Speaker Did Not Issue Directive for the Cancellations of Meetings.

The Most Hon. Juliet Holness

The Speaker of the House, The Honourable Juliet Holness who was accused of cancelling parliamentary Committee meetings recently, did not do so, according to a press release from Gordon House. She was harshly criticized by members of the Opposition for making a decision, they said she had no power to make.

We expect the opposition to respond to this release which was given prominence in the news media in the past few days.

Information from some sources indicates that Mrs Holness is moving to modernize the country's parliament. This is being viewed with suspicion in some quarters. Mrs Holness led a team that recently went to Trinidad to look at the operations of their Parliament.

Recently Mrs Holness came under fire for issuing a strongly worded letter to former Clerk of the House, Valerie Curtis. Many claimed that Mrs Curtis was a civil servant and Mrs Holness had no authority to reprimand her. Checks revealed that the Clerk of the House is not a civil servant. The Clerk of the House reports to Parliament and the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate are responsible for the operations of the Houses of Parliament. The Clerk of the House therefore reports to the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate.

The Following is a Release From The Houses of Parliament - 2024/07/12

The Houses of Parliament acknowledges that there was a miscommunication about the recent decision to cancel all the committee meetings as a result of an internal error. 

We would like to use this opportunity to clarify that the Honourable Speaker did not issue a directive for the cancellation of meetings.  In light of the catastrophic damage caused by Hurricane Beryl, the Speaker expressed concerns that there were difficulties in making contact with many of the members by telephone. As a result, some of the parliamentary committee meetings were cancelled due to the unavailability of members to form a quorum. 

Given the extensive destruction caused by the hurricane, and the urgent need for Members of Parliament to be present in their constituencies to assist with recovery and relief efforts, there was also the concern that majority of the committee members were not available to attend the meetings. 

There was absolutely no intention to usurp authority or disrupt parliamentary processes beyond what was essential for addressing this emergency. 

We deeply regret any confusion or inconvenience that may have been caused. 

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NOTICE
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