MEMBERS of Parliament of both sides of the House of Assembly are still at odds over the appointment of a Deputy Speaker five months after the House met for the first time under our new administration headed by Prime Minister Allen Chastanet.
Now the Opposition is taking the matter a step further by going to a court of law to seek an opinion on the matter.
The issue came up at last Tuesdayās House meeting and once again the opposition made it clear that it was not interested in nominating one of its members to the position.
Opposition Leader Philip J Pierre yesterday told The VOICE that convention dictates that the Deputy Speaker position is filled by someone from the government side of the House, something he said that deceased Sir John Compton understood when he asked Marcus Nicholas to occupy the position.
Government, he added need not have made every elected member a Minister.
āWhich law states that every elected Member of Parliament must be a member of Cabinet?,ā Pierre asked.
He added that the Deputy Speaker position was already filled by Castries Central parliamentarian Sarah Flood-Beaubrun who afterwards was appointed a Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Economic Growth, Job Creation and the Public Service.
Pierre is of the view that his side of the House would be short of a speaker under certain circumstances if a Deputy Speaker is appointed from the Opposition side.
He said that if the Prime Minister cannot convince one of his members to take up the position the opposition will decline the offer.
But Pierreās position has not gone down well with the United Workers Party which released a statement Thursday saying that Pierre āis not among the many who have committed themselves to putting our country first.ā
āThe United Workers Party considers it shameful that the Opposition should wish to go to court over the issue of the election of a Deputy Speaker, when the Leader of the Opposition himself is on record as saying it was not in his partyās best interests at this time to nominate one of its members as a candidate for Deputy Speaker. The United Workers Party takes this opportunity to repeat itself on the matter:
Parliament is a collective of the government and opposition Members. But it appears the Opposition has absolved itself of its own responsibilities, or consider themselves above the demands of our Constitution,ā the party noted in a release.
Up to now no one has told me why the flambeaus took to the streets protesting fuel price hikes under Labour. It was panicking over nothing no wonder all who protested are muted.
…….another jackass move by polyester j.pierre.
STUPID MOVE BY A STUPID POLITICIAN. DO YOU SEE PEOPLE OUT HERE IN THESE STREETS WONDERING ABOUT A DEPUTY SPEAKER? SERIOUSLY! DID YOU SEE ANYONE OUT HERE TRYING TO KEEP THEIR LIGHTS ON AND WATER RUNNING AND CABLE ON…..WONDERING IF WE NEED SOMEONE TO SIT ON THE CHAIR WHILE THE SPEAKER GOES TO PEE? SERIOUSLY? OUT OF ALL THE WARS AND BATTLES TO FIGHT ON BEHALF OF THE PEOPLE OF ST. LUCIA, YOU ARE CHOOSING TO FIGHT OVER A DEPUTY SPEAKER! NO WONDER YOU GOT NEARLY BEAT BY A POLITICAL NOVICE IN YOUR RUN DOWN CONSTITUENCY. FUNNY THING IS THAT YOU WILL NEVER RUN FOR PM, AND WHEN YOU DO YOU WILL GET THOROUGHLY BEAT. EVERYTIME YOU LABOUR PEOPLE HAVE EVER ONE ANY ELECTION IS WHEN THERE IS A WEAK UWP LEADER. WORD TO VAUGHN LEWIS AND KING. AS LONG AS THE LEADER HAS ANY SEMBLANCE ON BEING STRONG, YOU PEOPLE WILL BE BEAT CONTINUOUSLY. GO AHEAD AND SUE AND MAYBE WIN AND THEN WHAT? YOU EITHER GET BOUGHT OUT BY THE RED DUDE TO ALLOW HIM TO TAKE THE HEAD OF THE PARTY, OR YOU GET YOUR TALE HANDED TO YOU BY FORTUNA (BUT DONT CALL HER THAT SINCE SHE HAS THE SAME NAME WITH KENNY’S WIFE….KENNY ACTUALLY REFUSED TO CALL HER FIRST NAME ON YOUR PLATFORM IN MARCHAND FOR THIS SAME REASON). POOR JAB PIP.
AND GET A GOOD SUIT MAN…POLYESTER PIP.
AND A MODERN HAIRCUT.
SPEECH THERAPY?