Former Member of Parliament for St Joseph Herbert Volney has decided to challenge Speaker Wade Mark's invocation of the Crossing of the Floor Act that saw him being expelled from Parliament moments after Monday's budget presentation.Volney, in a brief telephone interview yesterday, said the matter has already been "entrusted to the safe hands of my attorney."
"The Speaker of the House does not have the jurisdiction to rule, he cannot serve in the function of the High Court," Volney said, adding that under Section 52 of the Constitution, he had the right to challenge Mark's determination."The Standing Order does not enable him to adjudicate, it allows him to prevail on our conduct but he assumed jurisdiction not accorded to him."I must challenge that for posterity."
He said though Mark "obviously received and read out a legal opinion," he was still going to challenge the matter in the High Court."I understand it was Lord (David) Pannick (QC) who advised on the matter," Volney said.Section 52 of the Constitution states inter alia that "proceedings for the determination of any question referred to in subsection (1) shall not be instituted except with the leave of a judge of the High Court."
It also states that "proceedings for the determination of any question referred to in subsection (1) shall not be instituted except with the leave of a judge of the High Court."He said while former speakers, the late Hector McClean and Barry Sinanan never invoked that act, Mark "took it upon himself" to use it.Former prime minister Basdeo Panday yesterday also questioned whether Mark had the right to invoke the Crossing of the Floor Act.
"This was the first time the act was invoked and the Speaker can interpret the act in different ways and say that it does not need the Standing Order," Panday said in a telephone interview.Panday also questioned the validity of Mark's move as the requisite Standing Orders were not in place. He too came to the same conclusion as Volney, in that only the court could make that determination.
"A court ruling will determine the validity of Mark's decision," Panday said. "But there is more to it than that...I think the Prime Minister is sending a strong message to other members who may be thinking of crossing the floor."The most notable similar moves happened back in 1997 when then People's National Movement members Dr Vincent Lasse and Dr Rupert Griffith crossed the floor to join Panday's UNC. They were given junior ministerial posts then.
While Volney was removed from Parliament, questions arose as to why Labour Minister and Member of Parliament for Pointe-a-Pierre Errol McLeod was not accorded the same treatment after his public split with the Movement for Social Justice last year.In a telephone interview yesterday, McLeod said it was public knowledge that he had contested the Pointe-a-Pierre seat on a UNC ticket and was not sure where the confusion was coming from.
"I don't know that anything needs to be explained. If people are confused or confusionists then I do not know how I could help them," he said.McLeod said he was still not a UNC member, nor was he a member of the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ), not because he resigned, but because "they left" him."So I do not want to confuse the position of Volney with the position of McLeod. The two are separate and distinctly different positions.
"So I am also not going to question the Speaker's interpretation of the rules that govern the House of Representatives," he said.