IT was a day that the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) fought for the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago.
It was appalling that the Speaker of the House Bridgid Annisette-George did not allow the Opposition to complete reading their motion and that they were muted by turning off their microphones at intervals.
The initial reaction to what happened in the Parliament on Thursday was disorder in the house. It was disorder, from the start, while Annisette-George, normally shuts down the opposition in this sitting she presided over an Extraordinary Sitting of the House.
This was then followed by a meeting of the Electoral College on a motion to remove President Paula-Mae Weekes. During this session pandemonium broke out in what seemed to be total disorder and chaos. There were very long periods of constant desk-banging and continuous shouting from the Opposition due to the unfair way they were treated in the reading of the motion.
Frustration emanated from the opposition leader as the guidelines seem to take away the full force of the motion that the speaker issued. The guidelines issued previously by the speaker basically removed a debate on the motion and directed a vote by yes or no.
There are varied views on whether the guidelines were illegal or not however the Keith Rowley-led Government had its way in Parliament shutting down the Opposition and not allowing for debate – the cornerstone of democracy within our country.
This unexplored part of the Constitution still is illusive to the population as it was not allowed to be debated and now we are left with a half-baked bun. More research is needed to understand what are the proper steps to remove a president if ever we have this situation arising in the future.
The prime minister described the motion as “skimpy” and therefore this sentiment was backed by the Speaker of the House. So the Opposition seemed trapped by what seem to be a bias Speaker of the House and was trapped by the guidelines.
In my humble opinion, it was not a good day for democracy for the country and seem to descend into disorder and chaos.
The Opposition started that they could not vote because their mics were muted. Their senators could not vote also because the speaker did not allow the opposition leader to read the motion in the Electoral College.
Kamla Persad-Bissessar was only allowed to read the motion in the House of Representatives. This was the guidelines set by the speaker and she used the part in Constitution to do this that is outlined in Section 36 of the motion.
The Opposition wanted to debate the motion and highlight the issues that in their opinion were breaches of the constitution. The leader of the opposition also wanted a secret ballot, noting that the breach called for voting at the Electoral College, to be given the opportunity to be done by secret ballot.
This was not allowed by the speaker where she stated that the secret ballot only applies to an election for president. Shouts from the Opposition side came with quotes like “this is the death to democracy,” one UNC senator bellowed.
All in all it was a terrible day for the country democracy and our nation.
It reminds me of a quote by Mehmet Murat ildan “When a stupid government is elected in a democratic country, the best thing about this is that you learn the number of stupid people in that country!”
Going down this route is not good for the population. We are lacking good governance and a good captain to steer the country in the right direction.
Hope we never see another day like this day in parliament.
(Neil Gosine is an insurance executive, the North East Regional Coordinator of the United National Congress and a former chairman of NP. The comments and opinions expressed by him in this column are not necessarily those of AZPNews.com, a division of Complete Image Limited.)
Hope We Never See Another Day Like That in Parliament
IT was a day that the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) fought for the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago.
It was appalling that the Speaker of the House Bridgid Annisette-George did not allow the Opposition to complete reading their motion and that they were muted by turning off their microphones at intervals.
The initial reaction to what happened in the Parliament on Thursday was disorder in the house. It was disorder, from the start, while Annisette-George, normally shuts down the opposition in this sitting she presided over an Extraordinary Sitting of the House.
This was then followed by a meeting of the Electoral College on a motion to remove President Paula-Mae Weekes. During this session pandemonium broke out in what seemed to be total disorder and chaos. There were very long periods of constant desk-banging and continuous shouting from the Opposition due to the unfair way they were treated in the reading of the motion.
Frustration emanated from the opposition leader as the guidelines seem to take away the full force of the motion that the speaker issued. The guidelines issued previously by the speaker basically removed a debate on the motion and directed a vote by yes or no.
There are varied views on whether the guidelines were illegal or not however the Keith Rowley-led Government had its way in Parliament shutting down the Opposition and not allowing for debate – the cornerstone of democracy within our country.
This unexplored part of the Constitution still is illusive to the population as it was not allowed to be debated and now we are left with a half-baked bun. More research is needed to understand what are the proper steps to remove a president if ever we have this situation arising in the future.
The prime minister described the motion as “skimpy” and therefore this sentiment was backed by the Speaker of the House. So the Opposition seemed trapped by what seem to be a bias Speaker of the House and was trapped by the guidelines.
In my humble opinion, it was not a good day for democracy for the country and seem to descend into disorder and chaos.
The Opposition started that they could not vote because their mics were muted. Their senators could not vote also because the speaker did not allow the opposition leader to read the motion in the Electoral College.
Kamla Persad-Bissessar was only allowed to read the motion in the House of Representatives. This was the guidelines set by the speaker and she used the part in Constitution to do this that is outlined in Section 36 of the motion.
The Opposition wanted to debate the motion and highlight the issues that in their opinion were breaches of the constitution. The leader of the opposition also wanted a secret ballot, noting that the breach called for voting at the Electoral College, to be given the opportunity to be done by secret ballot.
This was not allowed by the speaker where she stated that the secret ballot only applies to an election for president. Shouts from the Opposition side came with quotes like “this is the death to democracy,” one UNC senator bellowed.
All in all it was a terrible day for the country democracy and our nation.
It reminds me of a quote by Mehmet Murat ildan “When a stupid government is elected in a democratic country, the best thing about this is that you learn the number of stupid people in that country!”
Going down this route is not good for the population. We are lacking good governance and a good captain to steer the country in the right direction.
Hope we never see another day like this day in parliament.
(Neil Gosine is an insurance executive, the North East Regional Coordinator of the United National Congress and a former chairman of NP. The comments and opinions expressed by him in this column are not necessarily those of AZPNews.com, a division of Complete Image Limited.)