Senate sits ahead of Electoral College meeting

THE Senate is scheduled to sit on Wednesday at the Red House from 10 am.

This sitting comes two days before the Electoral College, which comprises all members of the House of Representatives and Senate, meets at the same venue to elect a successor to President Paula-Mae Weekes, whose term of office ends in March.

Senate President Christine Kangaloo is the Government's nominee to succeed Weekes.

Against this background, there is uncertainty over whether Kangaloo will preside over Wednesday's Senate sitting.

One source described the possibility of Kangaloo being in the presiding officer's chair on Wednesday as "not likely." A second source believes Senate Vice-President Dr Muhammad Yunus Ibrahim may preside over the sitting.

While the sitting has been announced on the Parliament website, and an order paper has been issued, there is no official announcement as yet about Wednesday’s agenda.

When the Prime Minister announced Kangaloo as Government's presidential nominee at a news conference at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann's, on January 6, he said Government will meet all the legal requirements to appoint someone to replace Kangaloo as Senate President.

Under Senate Standing Order 4 (1), the Senate's first order of business after a general election is to elect a president. This process is conducted by the Clerk of the Senate.

Parliament, House and Senate, are dissolved ahead of any general election.

Standing Order 4(2) (b) allows the Senate president to be elected from government senators who are neither ministers or parliamentary secretaries.

Within the current government senatorial line up, Ibrahim, Laurel Lezama Lee Sing and Kangaloo are the only current senators who satisfy this requirement under this standing order.

Government senator Nigel De Freitas was a Senate vice-president prior to his appointment as a Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture on March 16, 2022. He acted as Senate president when Kangaloo was acting as President of the Republic.

Should Government choose to elect a Senate president from within its senatorial ranks, De Freitas' ministerial appointment could be revoked to allow him to do so, if neither Ibrahim nor Lee Sing are chosen for this role.

Government also has the option of going outside the Senate to select someone to take Kangaloo's position as a government senator. This person could either be chosen as Government's nominee for Senate president or simply fill Kangaloo's vacancy as a government senator, allowing another government senator who fits the criteria to succeed her as Senate president.

Outside of a general election, Standing Order 4(2)(m) states, "Whenever the office of President becomes vacant, before the Senate proceeds to attend to any other business, the Clerk shall call upon the Senate to elect a President.

Parliament sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not rule out the possibility of Kangaloo vacating her seat in the Senate ahead of the Electoral College meeting or a new Senate president being elected before that meeting.

One source said, "I don't see the election of a Senate president before the seat is vacated which I don't see happening before Friday (when the Electoral College meets)."

A second source had no idea what the agenda for Wednesday's sitting was. This source believed Ibrahim to be the most likely person to succeed Kangaloo as Senate president.

A third source said the sitting would be short, Ibrahim would preside over it and the sitting will deal with "one important item of government business." This source said this item was not one of two bills listed on the order paper dealing with the Supplemental Police Act or private security. Both bills were filed in National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds' name.

These are the only items of government business listed on Wednesday's Senate order paper. No supplemental order paper has been released at this time.