Teixeira roasts House Speaker

…says Opposition “disturbed” by process of decision-making and reaction to MPs

By Devina Samaroo

Opposition Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira, delivered a feral blast against House Speaker, Dr Barton Scotland for allowing the passage of the Tax Amendment Bill 2016 in the National Assembly to be passed, despite the lacking of a majority vote.

Teixeira equally expressed grave concerns over the manner in which the House Speaker continues to address Opposition Members of Parliament (MPs).

“We are extraordinarily disturbed by the Speaker’s process of decision-making and reactions to the Opposition Members, we find it disrespectful and belittling the way he speaks to our MPs, including the Leader of the Opposition (Bharrat Jagdeo),” Teixeira related.

To this end, the seasoned parliamentarian explained that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) will continue to stand up for what is right, even if it means continuously raising concerns about parliamentary procedural breaches.

“We will continue to point out though that we are here at the behest of the people whether they voted for us or not, we will continue to fight and we will continue in the parliamentary forum to defend the Constitution and we will continue to fight for what we believe is right for the Guyanese people,” she insisted.

Teixeira indicated that it would be unfounded to move a No-Confidence Motion against the House Speaker at this point, since it will not be supported by a majority vote; however she did not entirely rule out the option.

The MP added that the Dr Scotland still has an opportunity to redeem himself. “There is still an opportunity for the Speaker…to uphold parliamentary democracy,” she stated.

The passage of the Bill

After the PPP/C rose to object the passage of the Bill without a majority vote in the House, Dr Scotland indicated that the onus was upon the parliamentary Opposition to prevent the Bill from passing.

The Speaker maintained that the PPP/C should have called for a ‘division’, which would have allowed for the votes to be counted to determine if there is majority vote.

However, the Opposition Chief Whip argued that it is the Speaker’s responsibility to ensure the Constitution is not violated, and therefore, the Speaker should have initiated the call for a ‘division’.

The PPP/C has already indicated its intention to move to the court via a constitutional motion to challenge the passage of the Tax Bill.