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AFC calls for election of Opposition Leader
(Kaieteur News) – The Alliance for Change (AFC) has added its voice to growing calls for Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir, to convene the meeting required for the election of the Leader of the Opposition.
In a statement on Thursday, the AFC warned that the Constitution of Guyana must not be taken lightly, urging the Speaker to follow the law. “The provisions of our Constitution are regarded as sacrosanct and are not to be trifled with, ignored, or whimsically reinterpreted. In fact, with almost sixty years of independence and constitutional governance, somethings should be easier to accept, understand and implement. However, this seems not to be the case with respect to the simple task of convening a meeting of the elected Members of Parliament who are in the opposition benches,” the party said.
The AFC pointed to Article 184, which requires the Speaker to convene a meeting of Opposition Members of Parliament so they may elect one of their own as Leader of the Opposition.
“The role of the Speaker is, at best, perfunctory. He has only to convene the meeting and not get involved or embroiled any further. While no specific time is prescribed in the constitution, the framers of Article 184, no doubt, must have expected this meeting to be held within a reasonable time of the convening of the Parliament, after the holding of general and regional elections. We are now well past the reasonable deadline for the holding of that meeting,” the party noted.
Leader of WIN, Azruddin Mohamed
Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs, has noted that while the Constitution outlines the procedure for electing an Opposition Leader, it does not specify when the meeting must occur. “The constitution doesn’t say when the meeting is to be held, if it’s at the first sitting or the second sitting or third sitting; it’s at the discretion of the speaker,” Isaacs explained.
There are three opposition parties in the National Assembly: We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) with 16 seats, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) with 12 seats and Forward Movement Guyana (FGM) with one seat. The presumed Leader of the Opposition will be WIN’s Azruddin Mohamed. AFC added that while it is expected that the leader will come from WIN given its numerical majority, what is crucial now is for the meeting to be convened so MPs can “get on with their business” and restore democratic normalcy.
The 13th Parliament convened in early November, with government and opposition MPs taking their oaths. Since then, no date has been announced for the Speaker to preside over the meeting to elect the Opposition Leader. Last Thursday, President Irfaan Ali said the Speaker is currently out of the country, and the election cannot take place until he returns. His remark came as WIN threatened legal action over the delay.
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Weekend Cartoon
Manzoor Nadir is on a planned vacation, in conjunction with Ali, Jagdeo and
Nandlall. They were hoping the Court would have made a decision to
arrest and “export” Azruddin Mohamed to the US prior to being sworn in as
the elected Leader of Opposition.
Fact is, Nadir had from September 1 until November when he could have
taken his vacation, prior to Ali and Jagdeo setting the date for Opening of
Parliament. You heard of 3 Amigos, the movie ? This quad is called the
4 Amigos- the new play hitting theatres soon. How convenient is Nadir
taking a break from running Parliament ?