The speaker of the House

Mar 28, 2023 Letters

Dear Editor,

After 57 years of Independence and 53 years as a Cooperative Republic, Guyana’s Parliament has evolved from a place of intellectual erudite argumentisto dirty and indecent discussions on policies that are unfit for the highest law-making body in the land. Over the years, the National Assembly has witnessed displays of the most uncouth and uncivilized behaviour from both sides of the isle. A huge section of the community has concluded many of our Members of Parliament (MPS) behaviour are un-statesmanlike, lewd, and vulgar to be the people’s representatives in the upper chamber. Such offensive language should not be tolerated in Parliament. The worst aspect of Guyana’s Parliament revolves around the PPPC anointed speaker who has and continues to block many highly important bills from the Opposition to be presented and debated. Thanks to the Speaker of the House, Manzoor Nadir, his acolyte position has elevated him to the PPP’s 34^th Member of Parliament.

Today, thanks to the PPP Speaker, Guyana’s Parliament has reached its lowest level never seen or experienced in the history of the country. The Opposition peoples’ representatives must accept with much trepidation that their presentations will be smothered before they can be articulated in fullest form. The Speaker’s decision to prevent the opposition from presenting a bill for debate without taking into consideration that the opposition like his PPP colleagues have the right to be heard in Parliament shows that the speaker is callous.

The Speaker is an autocrat because only he decides what members of the Opposition can say or not say in Parliament. But his colleagues in the PPP are allowed to say anything and use any language without being disciplined. We all remember the well-known case when a PPPC Minister during last year’s budget debate told a female member of the opposition that she needs a DILDO to pleasure herself. He was not reprimanded by neither the Speaker nor the President. However, the Speaker has on many occasions called for the suspension of members of the opposition for frivolous incidents. It seems that the Speaker of all persons is not aware of the proverb; what is good for the goose is good for the gander, which means that the same treatment given to one person should be given to another.

The Opposition dare to question the authority of the Speaker for simple fact that he and no one else is the authority. Many including the Opposition MPs believe that the behaviour of the Speaker is highly partisan even though he gave the impression that he has carefully weighed the pros and cons of the issues tabled before him for a debate. Motions or amendments from the Opposition have never seen the light of day, not even for information purposes. In a few rare instances when the Speaker allowed debate by the Opposition, he is clever enough to limit their time, to prevent them from exposing the flaws and corrupt practices of the PPPC Government. In other words, he tries to minimise any embarrassment of the ruling oligarchy. Some have argued that the former Speaker under the Coalition was not so parochial.

The Speaker has not allowed the Opposition to table any bill in Parliament that would involve the debate on oil and gas, corrupt practices, SU Gate, or the procurement process that has awarded more than 95 percent of all government contracts to one ethnic group. The Gas-to-Shore project is the biggest enterprise to be undertaken by the government at an estimated cost of US$2.to US$3billion to the taxpayers, yet our Emperor Speaker had refused the Opposition request for a debate on this colossal project. Such abuse of Parliament by the Speaker must stop.

Many believe that the two main political parties in Guyana are dinosaurs, and both are one of the same and neither is considered the lesser of two evils as some would say or believe. The PPPC government under the leadership of Bharat Jagdeo and David Granger led APNU+ AFC coalition government have wasted billions of dollars of the taxpayer’s money on ill-fated projects and therefore, should not be trusted to lead the nation. It has been proven that the two main parties became corrupt, which supports the English Historian and Moralist, Lord Acton’s maxim, “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Regards,

Leyland Chitlall Roopnaraine

argumentisto, house, Leyland Chitlall Roopnaraine, Members of Parliament (MPs), Speaker

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The speaker of the House

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