Vote of no confidence unlikely to pass — Penn

A no-confidence motion filed against the government in the House of Assembly is unlikely to succeed but will allow lawmakers to highlight key issues facing the territory, opposition member Marlon Penn has said.

Penn, speaking during a National Democratic Party radio broadcast on Monday, explained that while the opposition will vigorously debate the motion, the numbers in the House do not currently favour its passage.

“The likelihood of the resolution passing or the vote of no confidence passing is very unlikely,” Penn stated. “The only purpose of this now is just to really emphasise and highlight that we have an opportunity in the House to debate on issues that people are faced with,” he explained.

The motion was reintroduced after a previous attempt, led by then-opposition leader Ronnie Skelton, was frustrated by government manoeuvres.
“The process was frustrated by the leader of government business, where he continues to add and add and add to the order paper,” Skelton said. “And then it came to a point where he prorogued the House, so it couldn’t go any further. It has to be resubmitted”.

Skelton confessed that the parliamentary tool was not being used to achieve a victory. He argued that the opposition originally believed it had a stronger chance of persuading members to cross the floor when the House membership was different.

But Skelton acknowledged that the current exercise is more about holding the government to account. “I don’t think it’s a matter of winning,” Skelton shared. “It’s for us as an opposition to point to the government and tell them, listen, you are falling short in all of these areas.”

Among the concerns are problems with road infrastructure, healthcare and water distribution, all of which will form part of the opposition’s debate. “There will be vigorous debate,” Penn asserted. “It will be debated vigorously and we’ll go through the process”.

Penn also cast doubt on how soon the motion will be heard, given recent precedent where the government has been accused of padding the legislative agenda to frustrate the opposition’s efforts.

“I personally don’t see us getting to this vote of no confidence until after the summer, if history is any indication in terms of the order paper that we have right now,” he said. “I don’t foresee us getting there until after the summer… if we do get to it at all, before the end of this year”.

The House of Assembly is set to resume on Tuesday, with several ministerial statements expected to take up much of the session.