President, Speaker meet on parliament committees, other matters

President Donald Ramotar and Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman met yesterday at the Office of the President where they discussed the composition of parliamentary committees and preparations for the President’s address to the House next week Friday.

“The meeting was quite cordial,” said Trotman on exiting Office of the President yesterday afternoon. “The President didn’t make any demands of any kind of me or in any way try to compromise my position.”

President Donald Ramotar (left) greeting new Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman yesterday. (GINA photo)

He noted that Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon was present at the meeting. “We did discuss ways of resolving issues, such as the composition of some committees. That matter I was advised was raised at the tripartite level so that we don’t have to bring it on to the floor and get into a skirmish if it could be resolved through political dialogue, which is something that I welcome,” Trotman said.

“We discussed how best we could bring contentious issues to a point of discussion and settlement, both in the political dialogue level and at Parliament,” he said.

The Speaker said too that another matter discussed is making sure that President Ramotar is ready for his appearance in the National Assembly next week Friday.

“We have to ensure that we meet any special needs of his.  As Speaker, I have to ensure that the President is properly accommodated so to speak when he comes, and that has to start with ensuring that the traffic arrangements are in place, that the security arrangements are in place, that he is not beset by a vagrant who is camping out by the gate!” he said.

The Speaker further stated that he is ensuring that the staff is briefed and ready, that the Chamber is prepared and such like.

“So it is the first of a series of meetings that I will have with the President and with Opposition leaders to ensure that the Tenth Parliament gets off on a good footing and stays on a good footing. We are going to have moments of tension but I am trusting that we will start off on the right foot, setting the ground rules – and one of them is that we will try to resolve contentious issues through dialogue – so that if and when they do come up we know we already have an approved mechanism for resolving them.

According to Trotman, the President said that he is of a mind to invite Trotman to the Office of the President whenever issues related to Parliament are discussed there. “I would have no objection provided that the other parties have no objection to this,” said Trotman.

“The President had written me on about January 18, 2012 congratulating me on my election [as Speaker], saying that he looked forward to working with me as Speaker in the Tenth Parliament and also expressed the hope that we could meet soon. Today the Office called and asked if I had time which I did. So that meeting was held today,” he said.

He said that the meeting between himself and the President is part of ongoing engagements that he is having because he said he intends to meet formally with Leader of the Opposition David Granger “to hear his view on how he would like the Tenth Parliament to proceed and the business there.”

He said that even though he is a member of the Alliance For Change (AFC), he still will be meeting with them to get their view on the Tenth Parliament before the commencement of the formal business of the National Assembly.

“[We have to try] to set the tone for the Tenth Parliament because I do believe that we have no choice but to find consensus and compromise on something because we cannot all get what we want, if not we would end up in gridlock and gridlock is the last thing that I think people want from us,” said Trotman.

Trotman said that with a view to making the best of the new configuration of the Parliament, the House may seek Canada’s intervention since that country recently had an experience with a minority Government. He said that the Parliament may seek to have MPs from Canada come to Guyana to interact with Parliamentarians here and likewise will be seeking to arrange for parliamentarians from Guyana to go to Canada.

On the reform of the Parliament, Trotman said that the first thing that needs to be done is for all parties to find the Davies Report, dust it off and begin looking at the recommendations therein. He said some of the recommendations are already being looked at. “Right now there is a UNDP project on to help to bring the process of Parliament forward a bit, ensuring that MPs have their email and that people are in touch with them, training for the MPs and staff. So some of the things that Davies mentioned are being taken care of,” he said.

He said that the hope is through political dialogue and the Parliamentary Management Committee “we can find consensus on the things that we can move forward.” He said he hopes the President, after having served in Parliament for so long has an appreciation for the things recommended by Sir Michael Davies and does not treat them with suspicion “that they are meant to denude the authority of the President or that they are the political agenda by a foreign nation but it was a man giving his genuine and honest assessment of the state of our National Assembly.”

He said, “I will get the report reintroduced at the bilateral level and as soon as we can get the Parliamentary Management Committee up and running we would be [looking at this].” He does not feel that the report when it was first released or any time since received the level of attention that it deserved. “It was kind or buried but I believe now is the best time to bring it back up, in this Parliament, with a new President, a new group of MPs, I believe that the time is right,” he said.

The Speaker added that the report, already nearly seven years since its release, has to be given the attention. “We cannot wait another four years to look at [implementing the recommendations],” he said.