We have to get on with Gov’t business – Prime Minister Hinds - despite opposition’s charade
Georgetown GINA, January 14, 2012
Source - GINA
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee during a discussion programme in the studios of National Communications Network, Home Stretch Avenue
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds during a discussion programme aired on the National Communication Network, this evening said that Government is committed to continuing its work since the ruling party has the largest bloc of parliamentarians and there is an absolute need for parliament to get on with the business of the country.
The Tenth Parliament convened on Thursday last with the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly being elected from the camps of the Opposition, the first time in Guyana’s history that such a situation has occurred in the National Assembly.
Prime Minister Hinds who was joined by Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee said a lot of learning in procedural things must take place by all the political parties involved, which would be extended to members of the public so that they can have reasonable expectations from the parliamentary sittings.
“ This learning process would also encompass not only the expectations of our Guyanese people but, it will also address the issue of how government can function…there are lots of things that need to be done along the way at different times, taking into consideration the budget amongst other things,” Hinds said.
Hinds further noted that the party’s ‘Chief Whip’ Presidential Advisor on Governance, Gail Teixeira has made a study on minority situations particularly in the Caribbean and 99% of the times, the opposition has allowed the nominee of the government to become Speaker of the National Assembly.
“This did not turn out that way in parliament when it was convened, nevertheless we have to get on with the business of the government so that citizens can benefit…that is what our party and government intends on doing,” Hinds said.
“That would be the focus of the government…in some matters there may be differences in view…there may be earnest honest differences on various matters…one can imagine that on some issues there may have a combination where two of the three parties share the same view on some matter,” Hinds said.
Rehashing the occurrences of the deliberations which were initiated after the declaration of the positions of the November 28, 2011 polls, Hinds noted that initial discussions were held by President Donald Ramotar and other senior members of the PPP/C party with members of APNU and AFC as it pertains to the nomination of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, however the PPP/C believes that the other parties did not play through with its expectations of appointing Mr. Ralph Ramkarran as speaker for the Tenth parliament.
“Nevertheless, Mr. Trotman is appointed as Speaker of the National Assembly ...he is therefore expected to hold the balance in parliament, acting as fairly and evenhandedly as anyone could…We on the government’s side would need to get on with our programmes and advance the business of the country…even President Donald Ramotar during the campaign season spoke about getting on with the economic and social development of the country…that is what we certainly want to get on with,” Hinds reiterated.
Veteran parliamentarian, Clinton Collymore and Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall during a discussion programme in the National Communications Network studios
Minister Rohee said that the entire proceedings and the manner in which the speaker was elected seems to be farcical, as it is something that appears to be well pre-arranged by the joint opposition.
“It was interesting to note that sections of the media already had an indication of what was going to happen on Thursday…this historical antecedence whereby the government would win the executive and the majority of the house, it would graciously concede the deputy speaker, as a matter of tradition, to the opposition…APNU and the AFC conspired for some time to hog everything for themselves…having lost the executive and having won the majority in the National Assembly, they decided to occupy other positions…this is the tip of the ice-berg in what is expected to come,” Minister Rohee said.
Minister Rohee further said that he has mixed feelings about the ‘workability’ of the current parliamentary setup.
“Mr. Granger and Roopnarine (Rupert) have already made it clear that they have an agenda that they are going to push, and on the other hand they are saying that they are not going to block the passage of bills and motions made by the government…this is a charade…it ought not to have been because it is inconsistent with best practices in democratic countries,” Minister Rohee said.
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall and Former Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Clinton Collymore, in a similar discussion programme on Thursday last, similarly spoke out on the actions of the joint opposition in nominating a Speaker.
Nandlall said that the opposition’s action is an indication of what is expected from them during the sittings of the Tenth parliament which means that the business of the government may not proceed.
Veteran parliamentarian Collymore said the current setting of parliament is biased and seemingly racial in nature as Afro-Guyanese hold the key positions in parliament.
“The opposition leader would have to be Mr. Granger, Mr. Trotman is the Speaker, Deborah Backer is Deputy Speaker…there are no Indians…Mr. Ramjattan nor Mr. Nagamootoo got any positions…this was manipulated to project an ethnic preponderance and is something that we cannot have right now in Guyana,” Collymore said.
The Tenth Parliament was convened on January 10, 2012. Whilst is was government’s intention of having productive discussions with members of the opposition after which a Speaker and Deputy Speaker for the National Assembly would have been agreed upon, the joint opposition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Alliance For Change (AFC) used their one seat majority to elect attorneys Raphael Trotman and Deborah Backer as Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively, overlooking Senior Counsel Ralph Ramkarran who was the government’s nominee.
Georgetown GINA, January 14, 2012
Source - GINA
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee during a discussion programme in the studios of National Communications Network, Home Stretch AvenuePrime Minister Samuel Hinds during a discussion programme aired on the National Communication Network, this evening said that Government is committed to continuing its work since the ruling party has the largest bloc of parliamentarians and there is an absolute need for parliament to get on with the business of the country.
The Tenth Parliament convened on Thursday last with the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly being elected from the camps of the Opposition, the first time in Guyana’s history that such a situation has occurred in the National Assembly.
Prime Minister Hinds who was joined by Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee said a lot of learning in procedural things must take place by all the political parties involved, which would be extended to members of the public so that they can have reasonable expectations from the parliamentary sittings.
“ This learning process would also encompass not only the expectations of our Guyanese people but, it will also address the issue of how government can function…there are lots of things that need to be done along the way at different times, taking into consideration the budget amongst other things,” Hinds said.
Hinds further noted that the party’s ‘Chief Whip’ Presidential Advisor on Governance, Gail Teixeira has made a study on minority situations particularly in the Caribbean and 99% of the times, the opposition has allowed the nominee of the government to become Speaker of the National Assembly.
“This did not turn out that way in parliament when it was convened, nevertheless we have to get on with the business of the government so that citizens can benefit…that is what our party and government intends on doing,” Hinds said.
“That would be the focus of the government…in some matters there may be differences in view…there may be earnest honest differences on various matters…one can imagine that on some issues there may have a combination where two of the three parties share the same view on some matter,” Hinds said.
Rehashing the occurrences of the deliberations which were initiated after the declaration of the positions of the November 28, 2011 polls, Hinds noted that initial discussions were held by President Donald Ramotar and other senior members of the PPP/C party with members of APNU and AFC as it pertains to the nomination of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, however the PPP/C believes that the other parties did not play through with its expectations of appointing Mr. Ralph Ramkarran as speaker for the Tenth parliament.
“Nevertheless, Mr. Trotman is appointed as Speaker of the National Assembly ...he is therefore expected to hold the balance in parliament, acting as fairly and evenhandedly as anyone could…We on the government’s side would need to get on with our programmes and advance the business of the country…even President Donald Ramotar during the campaign season spoke about getting on with the economic and social development of the country…that is what we certainly want to get on with,” Hinds reiterated.
Veteran parliamentarian, Clinton Collymore and Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall during a discussion programme in the National Communications Network studiosMinister Rohee said that the entire proceedings and the manner in which the speaker was elected seems to be farcical, as it is something that appears to be well pre-arranged by the joint opposition.
“It was interesting to note that sections of the media already had an indication of what was going to happen on Thursday…this historical antecedence whereby the government would win the executive and the majority of the house, it would graciously concede the deputy speaker, as a matter of tradition, to the opposition…APNU and the AFC conspired for some time to hog everything for themselves…having lost the executive and having won the majority in the National Assembly, they decided to occupy other positions…this is the tip of the ice-berg in what is expected to come,” Minister Rohee said.
Minister Rohee further said that he has mixed feelings about the ‘workability’ of the current parliamentary setup.
“Mr. Granger and Roopnarine (Rupert) have already made it clear that they have an agenda that they are going to push, and on the other hand they are saying that they are not going to block the passage of bills and motions made by the government…this is a charade…it ought not to have been because it is inconsistent with best practices in democratic countries,” Minister Rohee said.
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall and Former Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Clinton Collymore, in a similar discussion programme on Thursday last, similarly spoke out on the actions of the joint opposition in nominating a Speaker.
Nandlall said that the opposition’s action is an indication of what is expected from them during the sittings of the Tenth parliament which means that the business of the government may not proceed.
Veteran parliamentarian Collymore said the current setting of parliament is biased and seemingly racial in nature as Afro-Guyanese hold the key positions in parliament.
“The opposition leader would have to be Mr. Granger, Mr. Trotman is the Speaker, Deborah Backer is Deputy Speaker…there are no Indians…Mr. Ramjattan nor Mr. Nagamootoo got any positions…this was manipulated to project an ethnic preponderance and is something that we cannot have right now in Guyana,” Collymore said.
The Tenth Parliament was convened on January 10, 2012. Whilst is was government’s intention of having productive discussions with members of the opposition after which a Speaker and Deputy Speaker for the National Assembly would have been agreed upon, the joint opposition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Alliance For Change (AFC) used their one seat majority to elect attorneys Raphael Trotman and Deborah Backer as Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively, overlooking Senior Counsel Ralph Ramkarran who was the government’s nominee.