Prorogation scandal

The prorogation scandal refers to the 2005 constitutional crisis in Ibagli

In both 2004 and 2005, a constitutional amendment abolishing the Senate passed through the House of Commons. A group of 30 Senators used delaying tactics such as introducing thousands of amendments to the resolution and threating to force divisions on each amendment, a task which could take years, and proposing numerous resolutions calling for the abolition of the House of Commons.

In response to the delays, then Prime Minister Anthony Kinder advised Governor-General Annette Farquhar to prorogue Parliament thrice in one night, with only the Senators in favor of the amendment present at the prorogations. The Senators who were not present did not technically attend two sessions in a row of the Senate, and were removed from the Senate by a clause in the Constitution Act.

Immediately, opposition parties called for the resignation of the Prime Minister. The next day, the Governor-General called Prime Minister McNeese to Government House and ordered him to advise her to reinstate the dismissed Senators or resign. Upon his refusal to do either, she dismissed him. Shortly after his dismissal, she reinstated the Senators and dissolved Parliament.

It is believed that the Governor-General had been threatened with dismissal if she did not go to Parliament to prorogue it, and that she did as the Prime Minister advised only so she could stay Governor-General and set the situation right the next day.