New Speaker not bothered by PPP/C non-support - AFC said was a “hard fight” to get APNU backing
January 19, 2012 | By KNews | Filed Under News
Source - Kaieteur News
The new Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman, yesterday said that he is not bothered about the negative rhetoric being peddled by the governing party regarding his elevation to the position.
“The proof of the pudding will be in the eating,” said Trotman, who leads the seven-seat opposition Alliance for Change (AFC), told reporters yesterday as he looks to carry out his Parliamentary mandate impartially.
The ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) which lost its 19-year control of the National Assembly in the elections of November 28, is upset that the two opposition parties combined their majority in the House to vote in Trotman as Speaker.
Those two parties – the Alliance for Change (which Trotman currently leads) and the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) – are being accused of breaching what the PPP/C called the “convention” of Westminster Parliamentary democracies in which a nominee of the party with the single majority in the House gets the Speaker’s position.
But Chairman of the AFC, Khemraj Ramjattan, said that the only convention that exists is that the majority of votes decides the Speaker. He suggested that the only case in which a minority party gets the position of Speaker is when a party in opposition decides to support the government’s candidate.
In this case, he said that the PPP/C stuck doggedly to its nomination of Ralph Ramkarran to be Speaker and was unwilling to budge. Ramjattan said rigid position of the PPP/C did not allow room for negotiations at the tripartite level.
The AFC and APNU are being accused of opting out of talks at the tripartite level to wrestle away the Speaker position from the PPP/C.
With the PPP/C not budging from its position, Ramjattan said the AFC decided to seek the support of the APNU for its nominees, namely Trotman and former PPP strongman Moses Nagamootoo.
Trotman has initially stepped out of the race to allow for full support for Nagamootoo. However, the APNU stuck to its guns in not supporting Nagamotoo. As a result, to break the deadlock, Trotman stepped back in, and after a “hard fight” APNU agreed to throw their votes behind him.
“APNU doesn’t give anything on a platter,” Ramjattan declared, as he sought to fend off suggestions that getting APNU to support Trotman was easy.
However, the AFC has thanked APNU, especially its Chairman, Brigadier (ret.) David Granger for their support in Parliament last Thursday, “that resulted in this unique and historic event which ushered in the youngest Speaker in the history of Guyana’s National Assembly.”
Reading from a prepared statement, the AFC’s Clayton Hall said the PPP/C government must accept that it does not have a monopoly on power any longer and that the power of the people would have to be recognized and accepted.
The AFC said that it is prepared to work with both APNU and the PPP/C to facilitate a Parliamentary agenda that serves the national interest and which brings direct and equal benefits for all Guyanese.
January 19, 2012 | By KNews | Filed Under News
Source - Kaieteur News
The new Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman, yesterday said that he is not bothered about the negative rhetoric being peddled by the governing party regarding his elevation to the position.
“The proof of the pudding will be in the eating,” said Trotman, who leads the seven-seat opposition Alliance for Change (AFC), told reporters yesterday as he looks to carry out his Parliamentary mandate impartially.
The ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) which lost its 19-year control of the National Assembly in the elections of November 28, is upset that the two opposition parties combined their majority in the House to vote in Trotman as Speaker.
Those two parties – the Alliance for Change (which Trotman currently leads) and the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) – are being accused of breaching what the PPP/C called the “convention” of Westminster Parliamentary democracies in which a nominee of the party with the single majority in the House gets the Speaker’s position.
But Chairman of the AFC, Khemraj Ramjattan, said that the only convention that exists is that the majority of votes decides the Speaker. He suggested that the only case in which a minority party gets the position of Speaker is when a party in opposition decides to support the government’s candidate.
In this case, he said that the PPP/C stuck doggedly to its nomination of Ralph Ramkarran to be Speaker and was unwilling to budge. Ramjattan said rigid position of the PPP/C did not allow room for negotiations at the tripartite level.
The AFC and APNU are being accused of opting out of talks at the tripartite level to wrestle away the Speaker position from the PPP/C.
With the PPP/C not budging from its position, Ramjattan said the AFC decided to seek the support of the APNU for its nominees, namely Trotman and former PPP strongman Moses Nagamootoo.
Trotman has initially stepped out of the race to allow for full support for Nagamootoo. However, the APNU stuck to its guns in not supporting Nagamotoo. As a result, to break the deadlock, Trotman stepped back in, and after a “hard fight” APNU agreed to throw their votes behind him.
“APNU doesn’t give anything on a platter,” Ramjattan declared, as he sought to fend off suggestions that getting APNU to support Trotman was easy.
However, the AFC has thanked APNU, especially its Chairman, Brigadier (ret.) David Granger for their support in Parliament last Thursday, “that resulted in this unique and historic event which ushered in the youngest Speaker in the history of Guyana’s National Assembly.”
Reading from a prepared statement, the AFC’s Clayton Hall said the PPP/C government must accept that it does not have a monopoly on power any longer and that the power of the people would have to be recognized and accepted.
The AFC said that it is prepared to work with both APNU and the PPP/C to facilitate a Parliamentary agenda that serves the national interest and which brings direct and equal benefits for all Guyanese.
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