Opposition wants Parliamentary tribunal to investigate president

The United National Congress (UNC) has written to the Speaker of the House of Representative asking Barendra Sinanan to appoint a tribunal to investigate whether President Max Richards should be removed from office.

The party has made the request in a letter from Chief Whip Hamza Rafeeq to Sinanan in accordance with Section 36 of the Constitution.

Under Section 36 of the Constitution, the President may be removed from office, if:

• He wilfully violates any provision of the Constitution
• He in any way that endangers the security of the State or
• Because of physical or mental incapacity, he is unable to perform the function of his office.

It states further the President shall be removed from office where:

• A motion that his removal from office should be investigated by a tribunal is proposed in the House of Representatives
• The motion states with full particulars the grounds on which his removal from office is proposed, and is signed by not less than one-third of the total membership of the House of Representatives (which is 14; the opposition has 15 members)
• The motion is adopted by the vote of not less than two-thirds of the total membership of the Senate and the House of Representatives assembled together

Rafeeq's letter lists the collapse of the Integrity Commission as one of the main grounds, noting that in that matter Richards “behaved in such a way as to bring his office into hatred, ridicule or contempt.”

Related: Integrity Commission ceases to exist...

He said all 15 Opposition MPs would sign the letter.

Rafeeq said the President acted “in wilful and/or reckless disregard and/or neglect and/or contempt for the Constitution and the law” through the appointment of two of the five members of the commission, who were not qualified to serve.

He said the president's "purported explanation did not answer the concerns expressed by the population.”