WHEN the PPP/C was cheated of the Speaker’s position in the National Assembly, there was great apprehension that current Speaker, Raphael Trotman, would not have lived up to the absolutely high standards set by his predecessor, Mr. Ralph Ramkarran, in impartiality and fair rulings. However, after some initial teeter-tottering he is finally standing strong and delivering to the people of the nation, in the best interests of the nation, as was demonstrated when he took main opposition members of the House to task for their disruptions in the House last Monday evening during Education Minister Priya Manickchand’s presentation.
This is the new dispensation of political maturity that Guyana needs – where justice and commitment to a greater good supersedes political opportunism, grandstanding, and pursuit of self aggrandizement agendas.
One can recall that Trotman has always eschewed the racist and divisive rhetoric and the misleading semantics to encourage lawlessness in the streets practised by members even of his own party.
It is an anomaly that some really decent citizens support a political party that encourages criminality and terror attacks against one section of the Guyanese community; a political party that supports arsonists, murderers, home invaders, rapists, looters, destroyers of state and private properties and businesses; a political party, the leaders of which would prefer the nation to self-destruct rather than relinquishing their false claims to power on fictitious allegations of rigged elections, marginalisation, discrimination, corruption, among others.
Emerging out of the belly of the PNC beast of recent times are two persons who are eschewing the politics of divisiveness and are proving that one does not need to be a president to be an effective leader who can serve the needs of the people; that is, if that is the motivation behind seeking the highest administrative office in the land.
Dr. Faith Harding is doing wonders all across the country in community developmental projects, partnering with others, at times even government, to serve the vulnerable in the society.
And this is what successive PPP/C governments have been inviting all along; because the PPP was built on the foundation of unity and inclusivity, set in stone by Father of the Nation, Dr. Cheddi Jagan, who always reached out a hand in friendship across every divide – in this nation and in the wider world, because he always saw the peoples of the world as one family of humanity in what he termed “this global village.”
Raphael Trotman was the first in the PNC enclave to acknowledge the wrongs done to this nation by the party to which he belonged, during their long years in power; and his was the first voice in that party to publicly call on its leaders to apologise to the nation for the pain and traumas of the past.  This created a rift between himself and the party’s leaders, which was further widened when he challenged the leadership of Robert Corbin.
The fallout from this imbroglio is widely documented and bears no relevance here.
As aforementioned, Ralph Ramkarran had set precedent of gargantuan standards in the Speaker’s chair; but Trotman is charting his own path – one that is seemingly not divergent from that of his predecessor.
The nation applauded and hoped for great things emerging after Raphael Trotman and former President Bharrat Jagdeo embraced each other on a public platform during a religious function; but politics oftentimes takes leaders on divergent parts; and leaders are answerable to the members of the party they serve.
Yet one still hopes that Raphael Trotman, given his prestigious antecedents, would re-connect with his conscience and humanity and continue to pursue his own inclinations toward a commonality of purpose with anyone who has the good of the nation at heart.
That he is capable of eschewing divisive politics in favour of doing what is right and just was proven in no less a hallowed hall than the National Assembly on Monday last.  Those who know this gentleman, and the admirable lineage from which he descends, expect no less from him.
Kudos to you, Mr. Speaker!