by Linda Straker
- 3rd session ended on 21 September 2020
- 3rd session was first time in 7 years Parliament had an opposition leader
- 4th session scheduled to begin in October 2020
The 3rd session of the 10 Parliament came to end on 21 September 2020 and the 4th session is scheduled to begin during the month of October with the traditional throne speech to be delivered by Head of State, Governor-General, Dame Cécile La Grenade.
The prorogation notice was published in the gazette dated 17 September — 6 days after the House of Representatives had a session in which the Quarantine (Covid-19) Regulations were the subject of parliamentary approval.
The 3rd session began on 4 October 2019 with the throne speech during a joint session. In November, Finance Minister, Dr Keith Mitchell, presented of the 2020 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure which was followed with the debate in the Lower House of Parliament.
The members of the Senate or Upper House debated the 2020 budget in December 2020. After the Senate debate on the budget, the Houses failed to have any sessions during the period January to March 2020 – the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Lower House held its first Covid-19 pandemic sitting on 17 April and the main objective was to approve the 6-month State of Emergency and an adjustment to the 2020 allocations of an additional EC$50 million for the stimulus package.
The 3rd session was significant in that it was the first time in 7 years that the Parliament had an opposition leader. Tobias Clement announced that he was resigning from the NNP party of which he was a backbencher in the Parliament and will fill the vacant post of Opposition Leader. He was appointed in April 2020.
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