The quagmire of electing of a Deputy Speaker of parliament when the National Assembly convenes next week may have been exacerbated now that both opposition parties have expressed disinterest in assuming the position. According to the constitution chapter IV section 32 (3), “When the National Assembly first meets after any general election and before it proceeds to the dispatch of any other business except the election of the Speaker the Assembly shall elect a member of the Assembly who is not a member of the Cabinet or a Parliamentary Secretary to be Deputy Speaker of the Assembly.” Parliament is scheduled to convene for the first time since the January 25 general elections on March 10 when Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas says he is confident that a Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House will be duly nominated and elected. The quasi-controversy arose after the Nevis Reformation Party candidate Hon. Patrice Nisbett was appointed Attorney General and Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs to join the Labour administration. Nisbett had held the position during the last parliamentary term. The Prime Minister also appointed 2 non-elected persons as Ministers- Hon. Nigel Carty and Hon. Richard Skerritt- to his Cabinet. The Opposition side was left with 4 elected members and one appointed senator. Speaking on behalf of the Concerned Citizens Movement, MP Hon. Mark Brantley told The Observer that neither he nor party leader MP Hon. Vance Amory was interested in the position. Brantley will be returning to parliament as Opposition Leader and as such is disqualified from holding the position of Deputy Speaker. PAM MP Hon. Eugene Hamilton had told The Observer he was skeptical that the government side would seek to nominate a PAM parliamentarian or senator. “”I would be very surprised if that’s what the government would want to do; to use its direct opponent as Deputy Speaker. Any such nomination would be seen as something that could prevent the Opposition from fully participating at all times in parliamentary debates.” Hamilton later said PM Douglas could avail himself of another option- rescind the ministerial appointment of a member of his Cabinet. He also declared that none of the PAM MPs or senator had any intention of holding the position of Deputy Speaker. “With the government side ram packed with some 9 ministers, 2 of whom weren’t elected, it is quite natural and frankly more sensible for us to adhere to our duty as the Opposition to appoint our Senator and that is all we intend to do.” The PAM MP said with Dr. Douglas’ experience at the helm of government, he should have considered the composition of the National Assembly before determining his Cabinet. “The supposedly ‘experienced’ Prime Minister appointed a Cabinet without considering that the Constitution dictates that he has an obligation to also appoint a Deputy Speaker. Our interest is to duly appoint our Senator and we leave the Government side to fix the matter relating to the Deputy Speaker,” Hamilton said. On Tuesday Dr. Douglas said contrary to “outside chatter” he is certain that when parliament meets next week, a Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House would be elected. “I expect a certain level of maturity in the conduct of our affairs of government in our parliament. Although there has been quite a bit of chatter outside I believe that when the time comes the parliament will not only elect a Speaker but also will be able to elect a Deputy Speaker.” He said an Opposition parliamentarian holding the Deputy Speaker position was not a new phenomenon. “You will recall that back in 2005 and 2009 the Deputy Speaker did come from the opposite benches. This is not the first time that we have a situation where the where all of the members on the government benches are all members of a Cabinet and thus none was available, none was qualified to hold the position of Deputy Speaker and so the Deputy Speaker position was in fact filled from the opposite side,” Dr. Douglas cited. The PM also addressed the issue of the Opposition parliamentarians’ apparent disinterest, chastising any attempt to politicize the issue. He called for “maturity” to prevail on March 10. “I hope people are able to look at the work parliament has to do with some measure of maturity and stop playing childish politics and get on with the business of conducting the affairs of the country from parliament because some people seem to think that it is some kind of game to go to parliament on the 10th and don’t have a Deputy Speaker. I just thought I would make that very, very clear because it seems as though people are chattering about this particular matter. It is not a matter for the Labour party; it is not a matter for the PAM, NRP or CCM. It is a matter for all members of the House to become engaged in an exercise that would put forward not only a Speaker but a Deputy Speaker in order to conduct the affairs of the National Assembly as we have been elected, identified and appointed to do By the relevant authority, given the relevant instruments from the constitution.”
