During a special sitting of Parliament Friday, legislators voted for former Speaker of the House and West Bay West MP McKeeva Bush to become a member of the Public Accounts Committee, which reviews government audit reports.
Bush will be filling a vacancy created by the resignation of the new Minister of Border Control and Labour Dwayne Seymour earlier this week. The other members of the committee are Opposition leader Roy McTaggart, who is chairman, Joey Hew, Barbara Conolly, Isaac Rankine and Heather Bodden.
Bush was last a member of the Public Accounts Committee eight years ago, when he was leader of the Opposition. Lawmakers, under the Progressives government, voted to remove him in October 2015, citing a lack of objectivity on Bush’s part over the reports and oversight of the Office of the Auditor General.
The government motion to appoint Bush to the committee comes as the West Bay West MP faces two charges of indecent assault. In court last week, he denied the charges and is scheduled for a seven-day trial starting 11 Sept.
Rankine appointed as deputy speaker
Also at Friday’s meeting, legislators voted to appoint East End MP Isaac Rankine as the new deputy speaker of the house. He also replaces Seymour, who was promoted to a government minister last month, following the resignation of former Deputy Premier and Finance Minister Chris Saunders.
In a secret ballot, 11 MPs voted for Rankine, while four voted for Opposition member Barbara Conolly.
Rankine remains parliamentary secretary for the Ministry of Planning, Agriculture, Housing and Infrastructure and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
During those times when Speaker of the House Katherine Wilks-Ebanks is unable to fulfil her duties, Rankine will step in to the role.
Wilks-Ebanks, who had previously been deputy speaker, took up the role as speaker after Bush stepped down in October last year, giving into calls for his resignation after the indecent assault allegations against him emerged.
During Friday’s sitting of the House, MPs also elected Deputy Premier Juliana O’Connor-Connolly as a member of Parliament’s Standing Business Committee, replacing Saunders, who resigned on 11 April.
Members of Parliament will reconvene on Wednesday, 26 April.
Related Videos
