Veteran politician Moses Nagamootoo, now with the Alliance for Change (AFC) believes that his party should be given the speakership of the National Assembly even if it has to secure some votes from the governing People’s Progressive Party/Civic.
“The Speaker of the National Assembly must receive at least 51 per cent of the votes of the House so it is up to APNU [A Partnership for National Unity] to endorse the AFC’s candidate. If not, it should be open season for the AFC to solicit the votes from the PPP for its candidate,” Nagamootoo told Stabroek News in an exclusive interview.
The former PPP Central Committee member acknowledged that the three parties can legitimately nominate their candidates for the position, although his view was that the final decision should be made on the matter of principle.
“I believe that getting the Speaker of the House position is just a misplaced judgment. This is not an issue, it’s a principle. The PPP takes the presidency and cabinet, the APNU the Leader of the Opposition or in this case the majority, chairman of the finance committee and the chief whip. In principle then the AFC is a partner, not a junior partner; in principle the Speaker must, I repeat must, go to the AFC.”
Nevertheless Nagamootoo expects APNU with its 26 seats to vote in favour of him.
On the issue of whether Nagamootoo who has been a PPP member for at least 50 years could be trusted in such a key position, he pointed to evidence of his struggle for fairness and justice over the course of those years sometimes, he said, even when it meant defying respective presidents of the time.
“There has been a demonstration of my trust through the years… 31,000 people cannot be wrong. I oppose things on principle and support on principle. Those people who, for their own reasons, say they can’t trust [me], I would say that they should rather look at themselves in the mirror and see why they are filled of so much distrust in themselves, and maybe that is why they can’t trust Nagamootoo,” he said.
Emphasizing that he was not what many other politicians labelled him, he said his work speaks for itself, referring to his ability to stand his ground even if it meant defying those in authority knowing that the consequences could sometimes be dire.
He said, “Politics is not like a watermelon; you can’t be red and green, you have to either be red or green. That’s how I see things. I have been criticized… alienated, ostracized by my own, so I know first hand how it feels to hear these things said. However, I will continue my fight… I looked Burnham in the eye and continued my fight. I have fought with members in the PPP on matters I believe… I have defied the executive President and his lawlessness… and if it means that I am called this or that I don’t care because I will continue to fight.”
When asked why he should be chosen as the Speaker and not one of the proposed candidates from the other two parties the executive AFC member stated that he did not have to berate anyone to get the job since he should be chosen not only because of his qualifications but also because of his previous meritorious contributions in parliament. In addition, he continued, there was the experience he had acquired in politics and at a parliamentary level. Speaking with confidence he said, “Yes I feel that I am the best suited person for the job as Speaker of the House. My many years in working in Parliament with constitutional committees… [are] testimony to this. I have tremendous experience in reform… I also have under my experience 20 years as a journalist and over 50 years as a politician.”
He went on to add, “I am intimately committed to the workings of that institution. If we want a democracy then I am the man for the job.”
Racial problem
Reflecting on the November 28 regional and general elections when the AFC garnered only seven seats, the aspiring Speaker of the House first said, “The elections have come back like a ghost from the past, perhaps to haunt us or maybe to mock us so that we know that there is a racial problem…
“The results however from an AFC point of view were not what we expected judging from the large rallies and meetings we had. Many it seemed were in acceptance of AFC especially the youths. We had felt that since the AFC was making a non-ethnic appeal and focusing on issues and reason not race, [this] was a sure way of convincing the voters more – so too the young voters who constituted about 60 per cent of the voters on the list. We felt that those youths would vote for us… that they would have made a choice that was non- traditional in content and we were looking forward to that. After the elections we have been left asking, ‘where have these young votes gone?’”
Asked if he felt that the youths had regressed into racial voting he replied, “This is reflective of a status quo as far back as 1964.The result this time is virtually the same as it was back then, only with the AFC taking the role of the then UF… If you look at what happened in the sixties you would not say that young people have ethnic cleavages, you would say that they now recognised that there is place to run back to… they have run back into their respective ethnic shelter for a number of reasons and possibly because they are fearful of the unknown.” He added that for them it meant more than an acceptance of the AFC and that the sentimental way is the way to go. In terms of making the choice one has to look at what offers security… We have a bizarre, macabre political culture now and however bizarre we have to deal with it.”
Nagamootoo said by way of the streets he heard the AFC referred to as the seven dwarfs in parliament. From his point of view, it will instead be the magnificent seven or lucky seven, since in cards the house wins and that house is the Guyanese people.
He feels too that his friend for over 50 years, President Ramotar, should put aside political rancour and now gear his party towards building consensus since the elections had given all parties a new mandate and no one should just be in parliament to oppose or propose. “I do not see the ruling party using parliament as a rubber stamp nor do I want to see the opposition using their advantage in seats as sledgehammer either,” he said.
