The main opposition, A Partnership For National Unity (APNU) has agreed to support Alliance For Change leader, Raphael Trotman as the Speaker for the 10th Parliament, a source confirmed this morning.
The source said that APNU agreed to this proposal last night. Stabroek News was told that the AFC’s first choice Moses Nagamootoo chose to withdraw “in the interest of the AFC getting the speakership” and the APNU then indicated that they would accept Trotman as Speaker. According to the source, the counter-proposal by the AFC would see Trotman serving the full term as Speaker and there would be no rotation of the position between the two parties as initially proposed by APNU.
It is understood that APNU’s Deborah Backer will be elected Deputy-Speaker. The first session of the 10th Parliament convenes tomorrow and the first order of business will be election of a Speaker.
Yesterday, APNU and the AFC said that they are both ready for the first sitting of the 10th Parliament but 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 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.
The Trotman deal ends a bruising encounter between the two over who would be Speaker and paves the way for improved relations and a common agenda for the 10th parliament.
The AFC had argued for the Speaker position on the grounds that it was its votes which enabled a minority government. It had argued that Nagamootoo was deserving of the position as it was the votes that the AFC secured on the Corentyne that clinched this position.
APNU on the other hand signalled that it was opposed to Nagamootoo and to break the deadlock proposed a rotation.
The meeting last night was held between Granger and Trotman and it was at this point that APNU conveyed that it would support the AFC Leader in the position.
The decision represents a resurgence in the political fortunes of Trotman who had even stepped out of the prime ministerial running for 2011 in favour of Sheila Holder. He only re-entered the equation when Holder withdrew because of ill-health. She subsequently passed away last year.
There had been underlying tension in the AFC after a decision was made to abide by the commitment to rotate the presidential candidate position between Trotman and party chairman Khemraj Ramjattan.
Tomorrow’s speaker election will be the first occasion that an opposition candidate holds the post. It will also be the first time that the ruling party will be locked out of both positions.
