A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC), though still locked in negotiation over a candidate for Speaker of the National Assembly, said that they are both ready for the first sitting of the 10th Parliament scheduled for tomorrow.
However, both parties expressed reservations about not being officially notified by the Government of the decision to commence with the 10th Parliament this week.
President Donald Ramotar issued a proclamation pursuant to Article 69 (1) of the Constitution on Monday naming the date and time for the first sitting. The proclamation comes even as the opposition parties APNU and AFC are still to agree on who would be the Speaker.
The Speaker of the National Assembly is elected by a simple majority in Parliament and this would be the first order of business of the sitting, followed by the election of Deputy Speaker.
Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday, Vice Chairman of APNU Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine said, “We were to have had a meeting with them today ((yesterday) but at the request of the AFC we postponed that meeting. We will attempt to speak with them tomorrow (today).”
The APNU Vice Chairman said however that the party was not comfortable with the way in which it found out about the first sitting of the new Parliament by reading about it in the press.
He said that it would have been “more in the spirit of what we have been trying to achieve were President Ramotar to have informed the parties of Government’s decision.”
AFC Executive Member Cathy Hughes said that while the party received no official notification from the Government on the decision to call the Parliament, she said that her party is ready to commence work tomorrow.
Hughes expressed some degree of concern for Members of Parliament not necessarily from the AFC who may find the notice to be very short and therefore may not be able to come out from far-flung locations in time for the sitting tomorrow.
But she took issue with media houses which she said might be making the negotiations out to be a conflict situation. “Our distress is that there is a sense that this negotiation is [seen as] a situation of conflict when it is not,” she said.
Hughes noted that the AFC and APNU are still discussing and she is confident that at the end of the discussions the two parties would be able to reach a compromise “to ensure the best deal for Guyana.”
She said that the two parties had a fair negotiation so far. “The focus was always what was in the best interest of the country,” Hughes said. She added that while it was not a battle of wills, the parties will be steadfast in their negotiations.
It is turning out to be a two-horse race between Moses Nagamootoo of the AFC and Deborah Backer of APNU, even though Cammie Ramsaroop has been suggested as an alternative candidate for APNU and the Government wants former Speaker Ralph Ramkarran to return to the post. It is being suggested that the AFC could look towards the PPP/C to support Nagamootoo’s bid for the speakership.
The APNU said it would rotate the speakership with the AFC but said it wanted the first half of the term, something that the AFC said was petty, while it had no problem in principle with a rotation of the speakership.
Meanwhile, the Guyana Association of Women Lawyers took out an advertisement in the media saying that it stood fully with Backer and said if she were not selected it would be a missed opportunity and a clear shunning of her contribution and that of women in society to the country’s development.
“The Speaker of the National Assembly is an honourable position. The holder of that office must be a person of legal acumen and competence, together with knowledge and comprehension of parliamentary procedure. The person must have the ability to be fair-thinking, logical, compassionate but firm,” the Association said.
The body through its advertisement said that Backer possesses all of the requisite qualities to hold the post of Speaker, having been a practising attorney at law for over 25 years and through her service as a member of the Lions organisation and as a member of the Guyana Association of Women Lawyers.
