The Opposition UNC complained in Parliament yesterday when Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley was not present to reply to Opposition questions which were scheduled for reply in the monthly segment of Prime Minister's Questions.
"It's unacceptable - this is a mockery of (the Parliament's) Standing Orders!" UNC Whip David Lee deemed the situation.
Yesterday was the second sitting for the month - the time normally scheduled for a prime minister to answer questions from the Opposition. Eight questions were listed for Rowley to answer.
These included the completion of the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) audit and its intelligence gathering capability, queries on the Police Service Commission's contract extension of CoP Erla Harewood-Christopher, including the criteria used to inform Cabinet's extension decision; evaluation of the impact of crime on Tobago tourism and queries on the start of the Reliance Group-funded cricket academy and jobs arising from Rowley's Ghana trip.
Rowley wasn't seen in the Parliament and when the time for replies came, Leader of Government Business Camille Robinson-Regis asked for the questions to be deferred.
"The Prime Minister is not here today," she added.
Lee questioned if it would be deferred to another sitting or later in yesterday's sitting.
Robinson-Regis said it would not have been later in yesterday's sitting, "as the Prime Minister will not be here today".
Lee asked if Prime Minister's questions would be done at the next upcoming sitting.
Robinson-Regis replied," Yes, it will be to another sitting when we have Prime Minister's Questions."
But Lee said, "It cannot be for the next month! Is it to the next sitting that we'll have Prime Minister's questions, as this is unacceptable, Madame Speaker. We could do Prime Minister's questions ...we could have done it virtually - we've done it before. It's unacceptable."
Robinson-Regis said when Prime Minister's Questions were done virtually before, it was because of the Prime Minister's illness at the time and he had had permission to appear virtually.
She added, "Not to go into too much detail, but the Prime Minister has had a death in his family and he will not be at today's sitting and consequently (Prime Minister's questions) will be deferred to the next sitting when we have Prime Minister's questions."
"In addition to that, my friend (Lee) asked if it would be to the end of the month, (but) next Friday is a holiday, it would obviously be next month, which would be the second Friday, I assume, or the second sitting. But it will be when the Prime Minister is next available when there is Prime Minister's Questions."
However Lee, with UNC MPs desk-thumping their support, said, "Standing Order 24 ... this is a mockery of our Standing Orders and it's unacceptable and we'll not stand for that here! He should have applied for the day (off)!"
House Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George said it was quite clear the Prime Minister wasn't present and wasn't going to be present yesterday and there was an undertaking from the Leader of the House that in spite of the circumstances, that on the next occasion of Prime Ministerial questions, "these questions present and the others to come will then be responded to".
Rowley had reportedly announced his brother Felix Joseph's death on Thursday when he spoke at the Conversations with the Prime Minister in Tobago.
He was quoted as saying he'd felt it necessary to host an installment of the Conversations in Tobago following recent developments there, including crime.
Rowley had said he was also in Tobago to take part in the May 25 Prime Minister’s Charity Golf Tournament and had also come to see his very sick brother, who had died that same (Thursday) evening.
"So there are a lot of things happening,” Rowley had noted.
In March also, Rowley's eldest brother Mathias Joseph died at 81.
Others absent from yesterday's sitting were UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, UNC MP Rushton Paray and PNM MP Esmond Forde.