Opposition in 11th hour bid for a consensus Speaker...PPP/C: It is practice governing party gets position

Opposition in 11th hour bid for a consensus Speaker…PPP/C: It is practice governing party gets position

Jan 12, 2012 News

By Gary Eleazar

The Opposition Alliance for Change (AFC) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) are still to agree

Raphael Trotman

on a single candidate to be the Speaker of the National Assembly but come today when the House convenes for the 10th Parliament, the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic will be putting its full support behind Ralph Ramkarran.
According to Opposition sources, APNU had not agreed to support Moses Nagamootoo choosing instead to stick with its candidates Deborah Backer and Bishwaishwar ‘Cammie’ Ramsaroop. APNU refuted reports that it would support AFC’s leader, Raphael Trotman, for the Speaker’s position.
This publication had reported that Trotman did not intend to return to the National Assembly as a Member of Parliament but had indicated his preference for the Speaker’s position.
With mere hours left to go before Parliament convenes, the Government is not happy at the manner with which the opposition had been negotiating on the matter of appointing a Speaker of the House.
Presidential Adviser, Gail Teixeira, yesterday slammed the opposition, accusing them of undermining the tripartite approach that had been proposed by Head of State Donald Ramotar and agreed to by the Parliamentary parties.
Teixeira made the comment during a post-Cabinet press briefing. She was standing in for Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon, who is overseas following the death of his mother earlier this week.
According to Teixeira, the fact that the opposition holds a combined one-seat advantage over the Government does not mean that all of the principles should be abandoned. She pointed out that in the past 100 years ago in the Commonwealth, it is only one time that a minority government in the UK Parliament did not hold the position of Speaker.
The official maintained that the PPP/C nominee has in the previous Parliament proven his competence with relation to being impartial and evenhanded in dealing with the matters at hand in the House.

Ralph Ramkarran

She explained that while the issue of Speaker of the National Assembly is an important one, the government is looking to ensure that its business is conducted unimpeded. This includes the passage of the 2012 Budget.
Teixeira says that the PPP/C views the opposition negotiations as a serious breach of the agreement for the tripartite arrangement which was agreed to in December. The opposition had promised to work together with the Government but this is being undermined by “their recent actions.”
Teixeira said that the PPP has proven over time that it has worked with many persons from the opposition “but we hold to our potion that in Commonwealth Parliaments, it is a practice and convention that the governing party gets the Speaker…There is a principle involved and we hold to that principle.”
Teixeira added that it is not because the 10th Parliament would be operating in “uncharted waters” that the opposition should bulldoze their way and wreak havoc on the National Assembly. “We should not just upturn everything that is considered normal parliamentary practice in other parts of the world.”
She insisted that Ramkarran is the best and most competent person to hold the position of Speaker and has received numerous kudos from the likes of Raphael Trotman and several other opposition Parliamentarians.
She argued that Speakers generally are not changed unless in the case of death, resignation or being assigned another post.
Moses Nagamootoo had initially been the proposed person as the AFC’s nominee to hold the position of speaker of the National Assembly.