Mr Trotman, Mr Ramkarran and the Guyanese citizen
Guyana - well the part of Guyana who could be bothered with Parliament - finally
exhaled on Thursday when the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the
Parliament were finally confirmed.
I am biased bad because I believe that the PPP should go back into opposition, like the PNC, and get some spiritual refreshing and rejuvenation. So, I was glad that their nominee did not get the Speaker position. Many assert that Mr Ramkarran did his duties well.
My experience as a citizen leaves me wondering at these assertions.
A lot of us do not understand the power of the Speaker in the parliament and unless we have had to engage with parliament, would not bother.
I engaged with the National Assembly through the Clerk as part of professional obligations, and it was good to know that Mr Ramkarran as Speaker was working to improve the operations of the National Assembly. Mr Ramkarran during his tenure had also invited SASOD as part of a group of civil society organisations to one of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conferences.
In 2009, I was sworn in on the Rights of the Child Commission. I read the constitution, to understand how we should operate on the Commission. My colleagues and I were in limbo for many months, and people were asking me what was going on. I took my role of accountability seriously and it was frustrating not having answers.
We wrote to the Speaker in August 2009 to ask him to convene the first meeting. To the best of my knowledge, he did not reply in writing at the time and we continued to be in this limbo.
Then in April 2010, the Speaker summoned us to the first meeting. It would appear that this meeting could only happen under the auspices of the Office of the President and Ms Gail Teixeira who we understand had an important role to play in the functioning in those commissions. The constitution however says that the Commissions report to the National Assembly. So when the allegations of child abuse were raised against Minister Manickchand's nominee, Mr McKoy - I expected that the National Assembly would ensure that these allegations were dealt with appropriately.
I remember that afternoon of the first meeting of the Rights of the Child Commission . I remember the phone call I received before the meeting suggesting that I should vote a particular way. What was horrifying though.. was the realisation that there was some charade being played out in terms of the the National Assembly, and the bodies like the Constitutional Commissions .. that the Speaker for all intents and purposes seem to be working at the behest of the Office of the President.
I resigned from the Commission, submitting my resignation to Mr Ramkarran. I have never received any acknowledgement though it might be foolish belief that is how public officials would deal with correspondence from constitutional appointments.
I have not read the Hansards to determine whether Mr Ramkarran ever informed the National Assembly of my resignation. I know that no replacement was nominated. I also that up to after the resignation, my name still appeared on a list of persons to receive the stipends allocated to the Commissioners. One person told me I should have copied my resignation to Ms Teixeira.
It remains to see how this team of Raphael Trotman and Deborah Backer would work out. What I remember about Raphael Trotman is a 2011 budget speech in parliament when he was being politically correct referring to the need to work with people regardless of their sexual orientation amongst other things. I remember in 2006 when Deborah Backer in one of campaign meetings used homophobia in encouraging her supporters to not vote for Bharat Jagdeo.
I hope that Mr Trotman and Ms Backer would resist all political interference as they carry out their mandates. I hope that they continue to support the staff of the Parliament and contribute to the building of a modern Parliament as Mr Ramkarran did. They will have to be learning as well as all of us and citizens can hold them accountable. I hope that Mr Ramkarran and the former Deputy Speaker, Ms Clarissa Riehl, would also be part of the education of the public as to the role of Speaker so that we could learn how to hold the office accountable.
All of us Guyanese have political affiliations/non-affiliations , but it seems that we have not worked out yet how we define integrity while dealing with our political masters.
I hope that when the Constitutional Commissions are created, that Mr Trotman and Ms Backer will ensure that the National Assembly ensures that the Commissions can function without the remit of the Office of the President.
I am biased bad because I believe that the PPP should go back into opposition, like the PNC, and get some spiritual refreshing and rejuvenation. So, I was glad that their nominee did not get the Speaker position. Many assert that Mr Ramkarran did his duties well.
My experience as a citizen leaves me wondering at these assertions.
A lot of us do not understand the power of the Speaker in the parliament and unless we have had to engage with parliament, would not bother.
I engaged with the National Assembly through the Clerk as part of professional obligations, and it was good to know that Mr Ramkarran as Speaker was working to improve the operations of the National Assembly. Mr Ramkarran during his tenure had also invited SASOD as part of a group of civil society organisations to one of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conferences.
In 2009, I was sworn in on the Rights of the Child Commission. I read the constitution, to understand how we should operate on the Commission. My colleagues and I were in limbo for many months, and people were asking me what was going on. I took my role of accountability seriously and it was frustrating not having answers.
We wrote to the Speaker in August 2009 to ask him to convene the first meeting. To the best of my knowledge, he did not reply in writing at the time and we continued to be in this limbo.
Then in April 2010, the Speaker summoned us to the first meeting. It would appear that this meeting could only happen under the auspices of the Office of the President and Ms Gail Teixeira who we understand had an important role to play in the functioning in those commissions. The constitution however says that the Commissions report to the National Assembly. So when the allegations of child abuse were raised against Minister Manickchand's nominee, Mr McKoy - I expected that the National Assembly would ensure that these allegations were dealt with appropriately.
I remember that afternoon of the first meeting of the Rights of the Child Commission . I remember the phone call I received before the meeting suggesting that I should vote a particular way. What was horrifying though.. was the realisation that there was some charade being played out in terms of the the National Assembly, and the bodies like the Constitutional Commissions .. that the Speaker for all intents and purposes seem to be working at the behest of the Office of the President.
I resigned from the Commission, submitting my resignation to Mr Ramkarran. I have never received any acknowledgement though it might be foolish belief that is how public officials would deal with correspondence from constitutional appointments.
I have not read the Hansards to determine whether Mr Ramkarran ever informed the National Assembly of my resignation. I know that no replacement was nominated. I also that up to after the resignation, my name still appeared on a list of persons to receive the stipends allocated to the Commissioners. One person told me I should have copied my resignation to Ms Teixeira.
It remains to see how this team of Raphael Trotman and Deborah Backer would work out. What I remember about Raphael Trotman is a 2011 budget speech in parliament when he was being politically correct referring to the need to work with people regardless of their sexual orientation amongst other things. I remember in 2006 when Deborah Backer in one of campaign meetings used homophobia in encouraging her supporters to not vote for Bharat Jagdeo.
I hope that Mr Trotman and Ms Backer would resist all political interference as they carry out their mandates. I hope that they continue to support the staff of the Parliament and contribute to the building of a modern Parliament as Mr Ramkarran did. They will have to be learning as well as all of us and citizens can hold them accountable. I hope that Mr Ramkarran and the former Deputy Speaker, Ms Clarissa Riehl, would also be part of the education of the public as to the role of Speaker so that we could learn how to hold the office accountable.
All of us Guyanese have political affiliations/non-affiliations , but it seems that we have not worked out yet how we define integrity while dealing with our political masters.
I hope that when the Constitutional Commissions are created, that Mr Trotman and Ms Backer will ensure that the National Assembly ensures that the Commissions can function without the remit of the Office of the President.
Vidya...this is an important piece. Well said! When you took that decision to resign from the Commission I personally saluted you...in our society where some cling to positions of (power) because they are masters and not servant leaders, that single act was significant.
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