SEATING ARRANGEMENT – LETTERS – HON. A. DUVAL & HON. P. BÉRENGER

Hon. Members, I have an announcement to make today. I wish to inform the House that I have received two letters, one from the hon. Fourth Member for Port Louis North and Montagne Longue and Opposition Whip, hon. Adrien Duval, and another one from the hon. First Member for Stanley-Rose Hill, hon. Paul Bérenger, concerning the allocation of seats in the Assembly. I wish to remind the House that Standing Order 6 of the Standing Orders and Rules of the National Assembly provides that – “The allocation to Members of seats in the Assembly Chamber shall be made by the Speaker.” I have further taken note that the contents of these letters have been made public prior to any consideration or ruling by the Chair, which I deeply regret. In view of the rapid evolution of the situation, I had to respond to questions from the journalists so that the public would not remain confused, but I have referred only to matters related to the seating arrangement. Hon. Members, as you know, each Member must have a dedicated seat accordingly to our Parliamentary tradition. But until I know exactly what the situation is with regard to hon. Paul Bérenger, hon. Chetan Baboolall and hon. Joanna Bérenger, I will not allocate any seat to them today. They have informed me that they will not attend today’s Sitting. I will await a second letter from the three hon. Members before the next Sitting. I must emphasise that from the point of view of ethics, communications addressed to the Speaker should be treated with discretion at least until such time as they are formally dealt with or brought before this House. The Chair’s ability to discharge its functions fairly and impartially depends on the observance of established processes and the confidence that matters referred to it will be handled in an orderly and appropriate manner. Premature disclosure of such correspondence risks undermining that process and may affect the perceived integrity of parliamentary proceedings. Hon. Members, I wish to stress that maintaining high ethical standards is essential to the proper functioning of this House. Exercising discretion, restraint and respect for parliamentary processes reflects the ethical obligations of all Members and strengthens public confidence in our institutions. I thank you.