Clerk of the House rejects misleading Guyana Times article

DPI, Guyana, Saturday, December 29, 2108

Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs, today dismissed a Guyana Times article dated December 28, 2018, entitled – ‘No-confidence vote certified, will not be reviewed – Clerk of House’.

In a letter disseminated to the press Isaacs stated that “the excerpt of the article which refers to the Clerk is erroneous and misleading to the public.”

According to Isaacs, he never confirmed the validity or invalidity of the passage of the no-confidence motion. He said his statement explaining that it was not his duty to perform a review of the passage of the no-confidence motion was misconstrued and misrepresented in the article.

The Clerk said he outrightly rejects the statement and that it should be immediately withdrawn and an apology issued.

See the full text of the letter below.

Dear Editor,

I wish to refer to the Guyana Times article of 28th December, 2018, captioned `No-confidence vote certified, will not be reviewed – Clerk of House’ and to state that the excerpt of the article which refers to the Clerk is erroneous and misleading to the public. I reject it outright. As a matter of fact, the article should be recanted and an apology should be issued.

I want to make it clear that I have never confirmed the validity or invalidity of the passage of the no-confidence motion. Additionally, my statement that it is not my duty to conduct a review of the passage of the no-confidence motion was misconstrued and misrepresented in the article. I simply meant that a review of a no-confidence motion that was approved is outside my jurisdiction.

As Clerk of the National Assembly, I am required, by practice, to send resolutions to the movers of motions. This is what I did in the case of the no-confidence motion.

It is hoped that this response serves to correct any misconception of the staff of the Guyana Times newspaper and the general public.

Yours faithfully,

S.E. Isaacs

Clerk of the National Assembly