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GOVERNMENT’S Chief Whip and Political Advisor to the President, Ms Gail Teixeira, has, in not so many words, accused the Speaker of the National Assembly of sullying the integrity of the high office he holds. Speaking Friday evening to the topic, “Expectations of the New Parliamentary Session” in a live, televised interview on the National Communications Network (NCN)’s Channel 11, Teixeira said that instead of honouring the chair on which he sits and presiding over the hallowed House with impartiality, the Speaker, Mr Raphael Trotman, has consistently flouted conventional parliamentary norms and the Parliamentary Standing Orders to support the political grandstanding of the joint opposition.
Noting that this departure from parliamentary norms is an indictment on his stewardship of the fourth highest position in the land in the annals of Guyana’s history, Teixeira bolstered her argument by drawing reference to what obtained in the House preceding the general elections of November 2011.
She said that when the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) had the majority of seats in the House, it did not ride roughshod over the opposition, but was always in a consultative mode, which is in keeping with the Constitution, which had been radically reformed after broad-based stakeholder participation, and with consensual decisions between government and the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR).
While making the point that as far as she knows, Guyana’s Constitution is the most advanced in the wider Caribbean region, Teixeira said she is convinced that the joint opposition has no intention of letting Parliament work according to democratic norms and principles, and to be a functional body in dealing with pressing issues of national importance that will impact the lives of citizens.
Among the functions of Parliament most affected, she said, were those of the parliamentary committees in general, but the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in particular, which has not even begun examining the public accounts for 2010, although it has received those for 2011 from the Auditor-General.
She said that the joint opposition, although they had compromised the integrity of the Constitution by appointing membership in their favour and grabbing the position of Chair of all the committees (which the PPP had never done, but had instead rotated chair of the various sectoral committees and conceded the Chair of the most vital committee, that of the PAC, completely to the opposition), they have not convened one single meeting to date.
Reiterating that the business of the House is not being conducted as it should, Teixeira said what has been happening instead is that there is constant diversion on matters that have no constitutional merit, which, disappointingly, are supported by the Speaker, thus compromising the integrity of the position he holds.
She said the reason the PPP consistently tries to reach out to the joint opposition is because of its intrinsic sense of responsibility, a quality it has historically held dear, particularly while in government, as it recognises that it has to address the needs of not only its constituents but the entire nation.
She, however, lamented the fact that the joint opposition is hell- bent on squandering the opportunities to work with the government for the good of all the people of Guyana, despite constant openings offered by the President.
She posits that, based on the events that unfolded during the recent past in Linden, Agricola, with the findings of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) and the continuous inflammatory rhetoric and the refusal of the opposition to cooperate with the government, that the opposition is only interested in destabilizing the government, regardless of the dire consequences to the people of Guyana.
Noting that this departure from parliamentary norms is an indictment on his stewardship of the fourth highest position in the land in the annals of Guyana’s history, Teixeira bolstered her argument by drawing reference to what obtained in the House preceding the general elections of November 2011.
She said that when the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) had the majority of seats in the House, it did not ride roughshod over the opposition, but was always in a consultative mode, which is in keeping with the Constitution, which had been radically reformed after broad-based stakeholder participation, and with consensual decisions between government and the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR).
While making the point that as far as she knows, Guyana’s Constitution is the most advanced in the wider Caribbean region, Teixeira said she is convinced that the joint opposition has no intention of letting Parliament work according to democratic norms and principles, and to be a functional body in dealing with pressing issues of national importance that will impact the lives of citizens.
Among the functions of Parliament most affected, she said, were those of the parliamentary committees in general, but the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in particular, which has not even begun examining the public accounts for 2010, although it has received those for 2011 from the Auditor-General.
She said that the joint opposition, although they had compromised the integrity of the Constitution by appointing membership in their favour and grabbing the position of Chair of all the committees (which the PPP had never done, but had instead rotated chair of the various sectoral committees and conceded the Chair of the most vital committee, that of the PAC, completely to the opposition), they have not convened one single meeting to date.
Reiterating that the business of the House is not being conducted as it should, Teixeira said what has been happening instead is that there is constant diversion on matters that have no constitutional merit, which, disappointingly, are supported by the Speaker, thus compromising the integrity of the position he holds.
She said the reason the PPP consistently tries to reach out to the joint opposition is because of its intrinsic sense of responsibility, a quality it has historically held dear, particularly while in government, as it recognises that it has to address the needs of not only its constituents but the entire nation.
She, however, lamented the fact that the joint opposition is hell- bent on squandering the opportunities to work with the government for the good of all the people of Guyana, despite constant openings offered by the President.
She posits that, based on the events that unfolded during the recent past in Linden, Agricola, with the findings of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) and the continuous inflammatory rhetoric and the refusal of the opposition to cooperate with the government, that the opposition is only interested in destabilizing the government, regardless of the dire consequences to the people of Guyana.
