By Jomo Paul
[www.inewsguyana.com] –Dr Barton Scotland, a former Guyanese diplomat, was appointed as the Speaker of the National Assembly by the APNU+AFC government for the 11th parliament.
Dr Scotland’s appointment comes weeks after rife speculation with respect to which individual from Civil Society will occupy the post in the 11th session.
He was nominated by government Chief Whip, Amna Ally, which was seconded by Cathy Hughes. There was no other nomination.
Following his appointment, Dr Scotland said, “By electing me Speaker of this National Assembly, you have presented me with an opportunity to join with you. I invite you to let us work together to that end and may our efforts be crowned with success.”
In the first order of business, the new Speaker delayed the election of the Deputy Speaker in the absence of the Opposition, PPP/C.
Dr Scotland is a legal expert on the Law of the sea and has held several diplomatic posts in the past. He led the Department of International Economic Co-operation under the Desmond Hoyte administration.
Scotland also served as a Commissioner on the Caricom Competition Commission which was launched in 2008 and later became its Chairman. Scotland worked in private practice in the areas of Natural Resources and Investment Law, Negotiations and International Law. He holds a Master of Law degree and a PhD in International Law.
In a Cummingsburg Accord, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) agreed that the Speaker of the house would be selected from Civil society.
Dr Barton Scotland is an excellent choice for Speaker of the House. I wish him a very successful tenure. God Bless Guyana.
The credentials of the new speaker show that he is qualified to be speaker on those terms. However, he comes with a legacy of the PNC under the Hoyte regime .and that alone would be enough to suspect that he would not be impartial in the proceedings of the house. For now, he would have absolutely no problem with his rulings as opposition benches are empty.
The last speaker was anything but impartial in most if not all of his rulings. Nevertheless, this ”new” speaker should demonstrate what impartiality is all about if and whenever the opposition takes its seat in Parliament. That shouldn’t be too far off.
Its not a legitimate GOVT who does not want transparency in the election ,DOES NOT want recount OF ALL the votes to match each SOP WITH ballot boxes this is not democracy .This is what you called cheat/rigged .There is something to hide that’s why they don’t want recount. GECOM SHOULD HAVE PEOPLE FROM OUTSIDE NO PARTY MEMBERS