PPP identifies Chief Whip, but no Deputy Speaker

… Remains non-committal on entry to parliament

July 14, 2015 | By KNews | Filed Under News, Source

The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) yesterday remained non-committal about its entry into Parliament.

The party did, however, clarify its position on the posts of Deputy Speaker and Chief Whip. General Secretary, Clement Rohee, said that while a Deputy Speaker had not been identified, the Chief Whip had.
This debunked the report that former Attorney General Anil Nandlall had been identified for the post of Deputy Speaker. This came out of the party’s weekly press briefing at Freedom House yesterday. General Secretary Rohee was responding to queries of when the PPP would show up in Parliament.

Asked whether the PPP had a date in mind for entering parliament, Rohee replied in the negative. Reminded of several issues that the PPP said it had a vested interest– the Presidential benefits Bill, the budget discussions, the debate over whether Parliament would go into recess- Rohee remained noncommittal.

“There is a position. But that position will not be disclosed until the appropriate time,” the PPP General Secretary declared.
One of the daily newspapers also reported that Nandlall had been tapped for the post of Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly in the 11th Parliament. The newspaper had also reported that the decision had been made at the level of the Party’s Central Committee and subsequently ratified by the Executive Committee in the aftermath of the elections.

Yesterday, Rohee categorically denied that such a decision had ever been made and he slammed the article and the supposed ‘source’ that the information had been derived from.

“It’s not true. We have identified a candidate to be our Chief Whip. But insofar as the Deputy Speaker is concerned, that is a far cry from the truth.”

Former Presidential Advisor on Governance, Gail Teixeira, served as Chief Whip during the ninth and tenth Parliaments. Her name has been floated to return to the Post when the PPP enters Parliament. Asked about her returning to the post during a recent Press conference, Teixeira had expressed willingness to serve but had also refused to commit herself to the position.

Nandlall had also been touted as a possible Deputy Speaker, but there have been criticisms from certain quarters that the former Minister of Legal Affairs was unfit for the position following the controversial release of a taped conversation with a senior Kaieteur News Journalist last year, during which he warned of an imminent attack on Kaieteur news.

The PPP has already identified its Parliamentary list, with former President Bharrat Jagdeo slated to lead the list as Opposition Leader. Former President Donald Ramotar and Prime Ministerial candidate Elizabeth Harper were also left off of the list in a shocking twist.