Patterson booted as PAC Chairman

THE GOVERNMENT FINALLY BOOTED OPPOSITION PARLIAMENTARIAN DAVID
PATTERSON AS CHAIRMAN of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly
early Tuesday morning.
Patterson, former Public Infrastructure Minister under the David Granger-led coalition A partnership for
National Unity Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) party lasted a little over five months in the post when
Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Minister Gail Teixeira tabled a Motion leading to his eventual
removal.
The ruling Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) called for Patterson’s head after the 2016 Auditor
General’s Report fingered him for inappropriately accepting high-priced gifts from government agencies
while he was an APNU+AFC Minister.
Patterson survived a four-months long government campaign to oust him from the PAC post, but very
early Tuesday, 33 government parliamentarians and Lennox Shuman, an opposition MP from the joinder
list, voted to end his tenure.
The motion had read; “Be it resolved that as a result of Mr. David Patterson’s conduct as Chairperson of
the Public Accounts Committee with respect to his open violation of the Standing Orders… in particular
since February 1, the majority of the members of the Public Accounts Committee have lost confidence in
him as the Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee.”
Patterson was further accused of vacating the seat of Chair at four consecutive meetings, and ignoring a
direction from the Speaker of the House, Mr. Manzoor Nadir that he put the Motion to a vote.
“David Patterson has demonstrated that he has no respect for the Speaker of the National Assembly and, it
would appear, in the absence of a response to the Speaker’s letter he is unprepared to obey the Speaker’s
instruction; he has disregarded the advice of the Clerk of the National Assembly (Mr. Sherlock Isaacs) on
several occasions with regard to the Standing Orders and is resolute in his refusal, using all forms of
subterfuge, to allow the motion for his removal to be “put to the vote,” the motion by Minister Teixeira’s
stated.

During her passionate presentation to parliament, Teixeira said, “I have been around a while and I have
never seen this behavior in any Committee in any Legislative Assembly that I have been a part of over the
years. I find this upsetting.”
“From February 1 through the months of March, April and May, I saw no movement from the member,
no acknowledgement, no attempt to call the meeting of the Committee to put the motion on the table. I
felt as though it was a hopeless cause… I want people to understand that it is not with delight that I bring
this motion,” she further told members of parliament during the sitting.
In defense of Patterson, opposition MP and former Minister of National Security Khemraj Ramjattan
argued that since Mr. Patterson is before the courts in connection with a $160 million fraud charge, the
proposed motion would be sub judice.
However, in shooting down this claim, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mohabir Anil
Nandlall revealed that the Parliament has the authority to regulate its own procedures and business. He
explained that since the motion made no mention of the charges that are before the court, there was
nothing stopping the Assembly from moving forward with it.
It was revealed that prior to the Motion being tabled in parliament, numerous attempts of guidance
provided by Issacs, Mr. Patterson had refused to resign from the Committee.
Patterson was also accused of refusing to allowing the motion to be put to the vote and this resulted
in the PAC meetings being cancelled as a result of the ensuing stalemate.