[ad_1]
(CNS): The opposition’s no confidence motion in government narrowly failed to pass Tuesday night after two members of the PACT front bench and an opposition member abstained. But Premier Wayne Panton also missed the opportunity to explain how he will deal with the hung parliament he still faces which is increasingly untenable.
As he took to his feet to respond to the PPM’s efforts to boot him from office, before he was forced to endure the indignity of his deputy premier and his financial services minister abstaining on the vote, Panton delivered a long address about what PACT had done and refuted the allegations of disagreement and infighting.
However, he gave no details on what he said were “the options” and “the solutions” were for the way forward.
The vote on the motion Tuesday night did not have the two thirds majority it needed to bring the government down nor was the opposition able to secure the tenth vote and what would have been a majority against the government leaving Panton in an impossible position. But with three abstentions, including one from Chris Saunders, the ayes were still in the majority, which coupled with the two abstentions on his own benches from Julianna O’Connor- Connolly, Andre Ebanks things have become even more challenging for Panton.
It was Sir Alden McLaughlin, however, who pointed out, in his brief and concise contribution to the debate, that even if the motion failed, as it did, and government survived, PACT doesn’t have the numbers to call a parliamentary meeting let alone steer a budget through the House to be passed in time to comply with the law.
Panton spoke about solutions and options to what McLaughlin had referred to as his “parliamentary arithmetic” problems but he did not give any explanation of what they might be.
The premier could secure a majority if Kathy Ebanks-Wilks resigns from the speaker’s position and returns to the back benches paving the way for an external speaker to be nominated and then voted on. But even calling that meeting would be fraught with difficulties including who would preside over it, given Panton would need all ten of his remaining members to vote in whoever he nominates as a new speaker.
However, this was not even raised as a potential solution by the premier.
During his hour and half long speech he urged the opposition members to allow the government to complete the budget process and bring that spending plan to the House before they tried again to bring his government down. But he said nothing about how he will call that budget meeting given that the opposition is very unlikely to assist government with a quorum for that or any other meeting PACT may want to call.
Last Thursday the premier made a brief statement following McKeeva Bush’s resignation that the PACT team were looking for a solution for the way forward but five days later the public has still not been informed of what that solution, if there is one, is.
With the no confidence motion wrapped up the day-long debate has still failed to resolve the country’s clear political troubles and government’s instability. Panton is still sitting on a knife edge majority and dependent on the goodwill of at least one option member to call a parliamentary meeting. Worse two of his own Cabinet ministers have made it clear that they have no loyalty to Panton and chose to keep their options open.
[ad_2]
Source link