Opposition MPs walk out over Shuman’s appointment as Deputy Speaker

Sep 02, 2020 News

– he won position by majority vote against Trotman
– Cathy Hughes calls it “an abomination”

By Shikema Dey

Guyana’s main Opposition, the A Partnership For National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition yesterday staged a parliamentary walkout of the National Assembly after newcomer parliamentarian, Lenox Shuman, was voted in as the Deputy Speaker of the House.

Opposition MP: Cathy Hughes

Deputy Speaker of the House, Lenox Shuman

Opposition MP, Cathy Hughes, had some choice words when addressing the press shortly after, deeming Shuman’s appointment “an abomination”.
That move, she posited, exhibited the governing People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) unwillingness to work in unison to uphold the longstanding conventions of Parliament.
“We find it an abomination that Mr. Shuman who comes from a party who got specifically 2,657 votes…I’m sure you, the members of the media, have more Facebook friends than votes that he got,” Hughes added.
Shuman won the slot of Deputy Speaker after the House majority voted in his favor.
The nomination was put forward by Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Gail Teixeira, and seconded by Prime Minister Mark Phillips.
The MP made it known that it was tradition for the slot of Deputy Speaker to be held by the Opposition but did not acknowledge that Shuman himself is part of the Opposition.
Hughes added that Shuman had vowed to keep the new administration in check during their tenure, but still accepted a Ministerial Advisor position, constituting a clear conflict of interest.
“Mr. Shuman could not even get a seat of his own…so how can he represent an Opposition that amassed 217,000 votes? It is unacceptable.”
In response to her pronouncements, Shuman said: “A lot of people seem to think that one cannot be a technical advisor and conduct themselves with integrity in the house.”
Shuman noted that while he alone sits as the party representative in Parliament, all key decisions are made collectively.
“There is no one-man show, I don’t go there and simply vote yes and no without informing them so I don’t see a conflict,” he said.

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