MP for St Peter Asot Michael. (Photo Credit Wayne Mariette)
Today Thursday was the deadline for the Speaker of the House of Assembly Sir Gerald Watt to rescind the suspension of Asot Michael but the MP for St Peter is still on punishment.
Michael was suspended for three consecutive parliamentary meetings by the speaker for alleged “hooliganism behavior”
But Hugh Marshall, Attorneys representing Michael has given Speaker of the House of Assembly, Sir Gerald Watt, until Thursday to rescind his suspension.
Our newsroom has been reliably informed that Michaels’s suspension was not rescinded
In a legal letter, attorney Hugh Marshall contended that Watt acted outside of the standing orders (SO) when he asked parliamentarians to suspend his client
Marshall said the House of Representatives “had no power to make standing orders providing for the suspension of a member and SO 50(7) was, accordingly, unconstitutional, null and void”.
“Even if the House did have the power to make rules providing for the suspension of a member, it had no power to make rules providing for the suspension of a member for three or more sittings and SO 50(8) was, accordingly, unconstitutional, null and void”, Marshall said in the letter, saying that the suspension was imposed simply to punish Michael and it did not follow the mandatory procedural steps specified by SO 50(7).
“Unless we receive your written confirmation by close of business Thursday 25th May 2023, we will be compelled to commence appropriate legal proceedings to protect the rights of our Client as enshrined in the Constitution,” Marshall added.
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