Guyana’s Opposition ‘A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC)’ has filed a motion of no confidence against the Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir.
This was confirmed in several articles from news agencies within Guyana, which said the motion was filed amid concerns of possible sanctions being imposed on several opposition legislators, stemming from a December 29 incident in the Parliament.
According to the articles, the incident erupted after opposition members attempted to block the debate and passage of the Natural Resource Fund Legislation.
The motion alleges that Speaker Nadir from the inception of his tenure has demonstrated partiality and brought the Office of the Speaker and the National Assembly into disrepute and public ridicule.
It further accused the Speaker of routinely showing bias against the Opposition and its Members by, inter alia, refusing to allow debates on matters of an urgent, definite and public nature.
The APNU+AFC controls 31 of the 65 seats in Guyana’s National Assembly and will need a majority vote to move the motion.
This means that the opposition would need at least one of the 33 members of the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) and the sole seat of the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP) to vote in favour of the motion, if it is to be successful.
In addition, the APNU+AFC has also filed a separate motion calling for 22 government parliamentarians, including Guyana’s Prime Minister Mark Phillips, to be sent to the Privileges Committee for disciplinary action to be taken against them.
This according to the motion is because their “conduct and behaviour was unparliamentary” and brought the Parliament and the National Assembly “into disrepute and invited public odium into the affairs of the Assembly.”