Chief Clerk of the House Of Assembly, David Forbes provided clarity on Tuesday on the laws pertaining to the holding of a by election following the death of the Member of Parliament for Golden Isles, the Late Hon. Vaughn Miller.
There has been public debate on whether the Prime Minister would hold a by election or a general election. Forbes said, “there’s a proviso in the constitution where if a general election is going to be held within four months of the time for the by election then, of course, the government can use that option. The election circle is five years and the government has probably just passed it’s fourth year. So they have a whole other year in the election circle. So he will determine whether or not he thinks it’s wise to dissolve the Parliament a year early or whether it thinks it’s wise to hold a by election. That’s in his sole discretion because he has more information that will help him make that decision than all of us, he’s the Prime Minister.”
The Chief Clerk also spoke to the rules concerning what happens when a seat becomes vacant in Parliament. He said, “the Speaker will then inform the Governor General and now you have to remember that when it comes to the death there’s a slight difference in that the Speaker has to be properly notified. It doesn’t mean that it gets on the news or somebody tells the speaker, only the Coroner can notify the Speaker of the death of somebody. You may have a hurricane, you can have all number of things can be happening in society, it can be instability, all sorts of stuff. You want to make sure that when you set a date for an election you can actually hold that election.”
Once the writ of election is issued the Parliamentary Registration Department will conduct the election.
