THE Alliance For Change (AFC), in the last several days, has claimed that allegations of sexual assault levelled against Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr. Raphael Trotman, are part of political machinations intended to delay a debate on the no-confidence motion.

However, Trotman himself has said that him being seated as Speaker to preside over the debate on the motion is not necessary.
“The motion does not require Raphael Trotman to preside over it,” he said, yesterday at a press conference, held at Public Buildings, Brickdam Street.
Since the disclosures, there have been calls for Trotman’s resignation and talk about the confidence reposed in him as Speaker by his colleague Members of Parliament (MPs).
“I was elected on a vote…that is how the Speaker is elected,” he said, adding that the fact that the Government MPs did not vote for him was a demonstration of their confidence in him.
Since then, Trotman made it clear that he has worked and performed his best to discharge the functions of his office.
His comments are a clear contraction of his party’s contention.
Last Friday at an AFC news conference, Mr. Moses Nagamootoo said, “This concoction or allegation against the Speaker was intended to rile the Speaker up…the intention is clear. It is to derail the no-confidence motion, to create a parliamentary crisis. If you don’t have a speaker you have an uncertainty as to where and how the motion will be discussed.”
According to Nagamootoo, the interpretation of the intention of the attack against Trotman is seen in the calls already being made to him to resign.
Additionally, like Trotman, the Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mr. Anil Nandlall, has since offered a similar reasoning to that of the Speaker.
The AFC has advanced the ludicrous contention that this is a plot hatched to avert their no confidence motion,” he said.
The AG explained that Nagamootto’s arguments are both “clumsy and foolish” ones.
“If for whatever reason, Mr. Trotman is removed or resigns as Speaker, then a new Speaker can be elected by a majority in the National Assembly at its very next sitting. How this simple legal process eludes so many lawyers in the AFC is indeed startling,” he said, dismissing Nagamootoo’s arguments.
The sexual abuse allegations were levelled against Mr. Trotman by 22-year-old Johnny Welchman Jr., Mr. Raphael Trotman, the Speaker of the National Assembly, since the allegations were made, has been most empathic in his denial of claims that he sexually assaulted the young man in question. The allegation was first made public via an entry on the popular social media site, Facebook.