The first Sitting of the National Assembly came to an end today without a date or time being set for the election of the Leader of the Opposition by Members of the Parliamentary Opposition.

Instead, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir, promised to consider a request from the main opposition – We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) – to have the meeting convened soon.

Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs, while confirming the receipt of a correspondence from the main opposition, WIN party, said the Speaker has only signaled his intention to consider the request from the party for a meeting of the Opposition MPs to be convened for the purpose of electing the Leader of the Opposition.

“He discussed it with me. And directed me to inform WIN that he is considering the request,” Isaacs told News Source.

He said once instructed by Speaker, he will put systems in place for the convening of the meeting of the 29 Opposition Members of Parliament to elect the Opposition Leader. However, he made it clear; there is no fixed time for the meeting to be held.

 “There is no fixed time, there is no fixed time. He could do it the next sitting or the other sitting” the Clerk said.

The Opposition comprises three political parties. The WIN party has a total of 16 MPs, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) with 12 MPs, and Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) that occupies a single seat in the House.

For the Leader of WIN, Azruddin Mohamed, there is no question that he will be elected to the position.

“The Leader of the Opposition, of course, is me. We are the main opposition party, no questions about that. So, we are waiting for the Speaker to convene the meeting so that the other Parliamentarians will elect me of course,” a confident Mohamed told reporters.

He, however, expressed disappointment that the meeting to elect the Leader of the Opposition did not take place today, noting that it could have been completed in less than 10 minutes.

WIN Member of Parliament Tabitha Sarabo-Halley told reporters that before the conclusion of today’s sitting, WIN submitted a letter to the Speaker requesting that the meeting be convened.

“We actually sent a letter last Tuesday but because we were not formally sworn in as MPs we sent another letter after we were sworn in today, requesting that the meeting happen sometime during the course of this sitting. And his response was, that they have to send out formal notices, but it does not have to wait until the next sitting before we can actually convene the meeting and have that vote done,” MP Sarabo-Halley said.

However, she indicated, that while there were informal exchanges with the Speaker, he has not issued a formal response.

Weighing in on the issue, FGM Leader, Member of Parliament, Amanza Walton-Desir said she is deeply concerned that the election for the Leader of the Opposition did not take place today.

“I am deeply concerned that it has been. I do not understand why it had to be. But I am also reminded of the fact that when Joseph Harmon stepped down as Opposition Leader during the last Parliament there was a gap, and during that time, the President took the opportunity to make appointments and some decisions that request the consent of the Leader of the Opposition or consultation with and the excuse was there was no leader of the Opposition from which to consult. This matter went to court, and that was part of the court’s judgment and ruling. So, that, I would assume that this Government might have deliberated manufactured this lacuna, this gap, so that they can do that which they had intended to do a long time ago,” MP Walton-Desir said.

Related posts:

“Miniature replica Mace” has no authority in National Assembly; Passage of NRF Bill remains illegal -says Opposition Leader Opposition Leader and Speaker clash over Bills submitted by Opposition Harmon to be new Opposition Leader President set to name election date soon; Opposition Leader still against November timeline