Bias, incapable Speaker should be disciplined for allowing rush of NRF Bill- Norton

Jan 08, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir, has signaled his intent to discipline members of the Opposition who portrayed ‘terrorist like mechanisms’ in their bid to stall the passage of the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) Bill, but elected Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), Aubrey Norton, believes, it is the Speaker who ought to be disciplined, for allowing the forceful passage of the key legislation, which will determine how the oil revenues should be spent and monitored.

Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir

Norton stated this position yesterday during a Press Conference.
He reasoned, “…the Speaker of the National Assembly has no moral authority to lecture anyone about propriety. He has been, and continues to be complicit in making the National Assembly a tool of oppression.”
According to Norton, the Speaker “has demonstrated from the inception of the life of this 12th Parliament, that he is biased and incapable of managing the affairs of the National Assembly in a fair and transparent manner.”
The Speaker, he said, colluded with the PPP/C government to rush the Natural Resource Fund Bill through the National Assembly, “once again demonstrating his willingness to sacrifice the well-being of the people of Guyana…”
The PNCR Leader continued, “…we lay the blame squarely at the feet of the corrupt PPP/C regime and a biased Speaker, for creating the conditions which correctly resulted in protest action in the National Assembly. It is the Speaker who should be disciplined.”
Norton made it clear that his Party stands in support of its Members of Parliament (MPs), noting that the threats made against them by the Speaker, is not only an attempt to intimidate the MPs themselves into silence and compliance and to muzzle the voices of the more than 200,000 Guyanese they represent, but also to shift blame away from the Speaker.
According to the recently elected Party Leader, on various occasions the Speaker would have portrayed partiality, therefore removing even the mere appearance of impartiality.
He told reporters, “the trends from the time he would have become Speaker, suggests that he cannot…if a country is gripped in a COVID crisis and the Opposition brings a motion to deal with what is clearly an issue of national importance and you declare that it is not urgent then obviously, you cannot be considered an impartial Speaker”.
Moreover, he argued, that last year when the Opposition brought a Motion that sought to address the Guyanese devastated by the floods, again the Speaker did not permit the discussions, explaining that it was not urgent.

Leader of the PNCR, Aubrey Norton

“One of the characteristics of a proper Speaker is that they should, at minimum, appear to be impartial. Even that appearance he has removed, Norton lamented saying “let us recall that he was a PPP Minister in the era of wanton corruption and therefore woven into the fabric of his approach is protection of corruption and dishonesty and so in my opinion he does not qualify to be Speaker because he does not possess the attributes of a Speaker, especially one of impartiality, two acting on behalf of the interest of the people of Guyana.”
In this regard, the Party Leader noted that the Opposition MPs—through their actions—were in pursuance of the interest of the people of Guyana, which is to protect the wealth that comes from the oil industry, and in pursuance of that interest, the Members of Parliament sought to take action to ensure that the Bill was not rushed through.
The NRF Bill was first tabled in the National Assembly on December 16, 2021. It came up for debates in the National Assembly on December 29, 2021, thereby giving the nation a mere 13 days’ time to scrutinize the document.
Shadow Oil and Gas Minister and Opposition MP, David Patterson, had related to this newspaper that at least three months would have been needed to properly study the Bill.
Nevertheless, the Bill was effectively passed in Parliament just over a week ago according to the Speaker of the National Assembly.
He said that despite the authoritative symbol, the Mace, was abruptly removed by Opposition Members and some Parliamentarians were not in their seats, the Bill has been successfully passed.
At an impromptu Press Conference, Nadir told reporters that a replica Mace was used and that government MPs had been seated.
Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Opposition is still reviewing grounds to legally challenge the passing of the Bill.

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News