The opposition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), has issued a new call for the Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir, to call a meeting for the election of a Leader of the Opposition.
It has now been more than three weeks since the convening of the 13th Parliament, and the Speaker has not set a date for the election of the Opposition Leader. The We Invest in Nationhood party (WIN) has the most seats on the opposition side of the National Assembly. It is therefore expected that the party’s embattled leader and Member of Parliament, Azruddin Mohamed, who is currently facing an extradition hearing in the local Courts, will be elected to the position of Opposition Leader.
The APNU believes the position needs to be filled since it is a Constitutional one and it would be undemocratic for the Speaker to continue to ignore calls for a meeting for the position to be filled.
On Friday, APNU Member of Parliament, Ganesh Mahipaul, said the issue needs to handled.
“The position of the APNU is that the office is a Constitutional office, the Leader of the Opposition is a Constitutional office and it ought to be filled. It cannot be left vacant. If we allow that to happen then it means we are aiding and abetting with the PPP to advance undemocratic practices and the APNU is not about that”, Mahipaul stated.
He questioned the Speaker’s delay in convening a meeting of the Opposition Members of the National Assembly for the election of the Leader of the Opposition. Mahipaul reminded that in 2011, then APNU Leader, David Granger was elected Opposition Leader four days after the first sitting of the new Parliament.
In 2015, while the PPP boycotted the National Assembly for more than two months, when the party did show up to take up its seats on the Opposition side, Bharrat Jagdeo was elected Opposition Leader on the same day of the party’s return to the Assembly.
In 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Joseph Harmon was elected Opposition Leader at the first sitting of the new Parliament in that year.
Meanwhile, the WIN party has threatened legal action on the issue, with the party’s Attorney dispatching a letter to the Speaker, giving him 14 days to set a date for the meeting or face the Courts.
The APNU’s Ganesh Mahipaul said the WIN party is within its right to seek redress from the Courts over the Speaker’s inaction.
“The action is within the hands of the Speaker. WIN has signaled that they intend to take legal actions and our position as APNU is that it is a Constitutional Office and it ought to be filled”, Mahipaul said.
Speaker Manzoor Nadir has been dodging questions on his decision to not set a date for a meeting of the Opposition Members to elect a Leader of the Opposition. The Clerk of the Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs, has said no date has been set.
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