Opposition Member of Parliament, Hon. Bradley Felix, has called for a formal review of parliamentary procedures after alleging that he did not receive critical documents in a timely manner ahead of Thursday’s sitting of the House of Assembly.
Felix, speaking to members of the media prior to the session, claimed that he had not received full documentation for two bills scheduled for reading, and that notification of the order paper only came late Wednesday evening.
“I’m very concerned,” Felix said. “I got notification of one of the papers around 9 o’clock last night. There are two bills up for full reading and I still haven’t received the documents. It’s very unfair that opposition members are expected to debate under such circumstances.”
The MP for Choiseul/Saltibus also called for the implementation of clear timelines for document delivery, suggesting a minimum of five days’ notice to allow for proper review and research.
“If you want the Opposition to make proper representation of the people, we need to receive these things in advance,” Felix stated. “This issue has persisted for too long across both administrations. The Parliament Office should establish clear rules, no document should be debated unless members have had them for at least five clear days, except in urgent cases.”
Felix cited two specific bills; one related to immigration and another concerning passports as well as the late circulation of the annual report from the Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP), as cause for concern.
However, Speaker of the House Hon. Claudius Francis strongly rejected Felix’s assertions, stating that the Office of the Opposition had received all relevant documents well in advance of the sitting.
“We have shown the Leader of the Opposition proof that the documents he claimed not to have had were, in fact, in his office’s possession for at least two weeks,” Francis stated. “All the bills on today’s Order Paper were previously circulated and signed for.”
According to Speaker Francis, official delivery logs confirm that several bills, including the Payment Systems and Services Bill, the Banking Amendment Bill, the Succession Amendment Bill, the Passport Amendment Bill, and the Immigration Amendment Bill, were received and signed for by Opposition staff between June 13 and June 26.
“The documents were delivered to the Office of the Leader of the Opposition, and that fulfills our obligation,” Francis said. “Whether Mr. Felix personally received them is not our issue. He either collects them himself or instructs someone to do so on his behalf.”
