President Donald Ramotar yesterday said that the election of Raphael Trotman as Speaker of the National Assembly by the opposition majority was “disappointing,” while accusing APNU and AFC of squandering an opportunity to usher in an era of greater political cooperation and consensus.
In a statement released by the Office of the President, Ramotar said he even contacted APNU leader David Granger to remind him of the PPP/C’s willingness to accommodate an opposition nominee as Deputy Speaker, but this was rejected.
“As President, I had hoped that the elections of a Speaker and Deputy Speaker for the National Assembly would have resulted from genuine dialogue rather than the product of some pre-arranged deal between the two opposition parties,” Ramotar said.
AFC leader Trotman was elected as Speaker, while APNU’s Deborah Backer will serve as Deputy Speaker, based on an agreement between the parties after negotiations.
Ramotar, however, charged that the collaboration between the two opposition groups goes against the convention in parliamentary democracies, where the governing party with the largest number of votes and seats secures the speakership. “This gross violation of an established convention is not a healthy development in this new dispensation,” he noted, while adding that when the PPP/C had an outright majority over the combined opposition it was “magnanimous” by allowing the opposition to hold the position of Deputy Speaker based on its respect for parliamentary democracy.
Ramotar added that he intends to monitor the situation in the National Assembly very closely.
