01/10/2026
WHO MUST ANSWER QUESTIONS IN THE SENATE?
Tomorrow, the people of Saint Lucia should pay attention to something very basic about parliamentary democracy:
Who is actually required to answer a question asked of a Minister in the Senate?
The answer is found in the Senate's own Standing Orders.
Standing Order 15 says questions may be put to a Minister concerning any subject or Department for which that Minister has responsibility, and that the Clerk must bring the question to the attention of the "appropriate Minister".
Then Standing Order 18(1) is even clearer. It says that at Question Time:
“the Minister questioned shall give his reply.”
Not the Leader of Government Business.
Not another Minister chosen for convenience.
"The Minister questioned."
And what happens if the Minister does not want to answer?
The Standing Orders actually tell us.
Standing Order 18(4) says a Minister may decline to answer if the publication of the answer would, in his opinion, be contrary to the public interest.
That is a specific exception.
Then Standing Order 18(5) says a Minister may defer answering "with the leave of the Senator."
In other words, the rules do not create a general licence for a Minister to simply say, “I don't want to answer this orally, so let somebody else answer for me.”
And there is another important provision.
Standing Order 18(3) specifically provides for what happens when a question has not been answered because of the absence of the Minister to whom it is addressed. The President is to call the question again.
So let us stop confusing parliamentary procedure with political convenience.
Question Time exists for accountability!!
A Senator asks the question.
The appropriate Minister is identified.
The Standing Orders say the Minister questioned shall give the reply.
There are defined circumstances in which an answer may be declined or deferred.
That is how the rules are written.
If a Minister believes that the Standing Orders permit someone else to answer in his or her place, then tomorrow is the perfect opportunity to put that interpretation on the record.
Which Standing Order says that?
And if the answer is that the Senate cannot require a Minister to appear and answer orally, then the public deserves to know:
What exactly is the purpose of oral Question Time in the Senate if the Minister responsible for the subject can simply stay away and delegate the accountability?
This is not about personality.
It is not about party politics.
It is about a simple parliamentary principle:
If you hold the responsibility, you should be prepared to answer for the responsibility.
Parliamentary accountability cannot become “accountability by proxy” whenever the questions become uncomfortable.
Saint Lucians are entitled to answers.
And Senators are entitled to ask the Ministers responsible for those answers.
Tomorrow, let the Standing Orders speak.
