Copyright guyanachronicle
WHEN Guyana’s 13th Parliament was convened on Monday, Manzoor Nadir returned as speaker uncontested, while Dr Vishwa Mahadeo was elected Deputy Speaker. The first sitting of the new parliament took place at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, with one of the first orders of business being the election of a Speaker of the House. Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs, called for nominations for the post to which Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips stood to nominate Manzoor Nadir as speaker. This nomination was seconded by Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira. His nomination went uncontested, and as a result, he was subsequently administered the oath to serve as speaker of the 13th Parliament. Nadir had served as Speaker of the 12th Parliament, which was dissolved earlier this year to make way for General and Regional Elections. Nadir told the house that it was a privilege to serve again as Speaker of the House, noting that he had served three terms as an ordinary member of parliament, two terms as a cabinet minister and one term as speaker. “Today I accept this honour for the second term. I am reminded that our journey together as a nation is a collective march towards progress and greatness,” he said. Upon his election and taking the seat as speaker, Nadir called for nominations for the post of Deputy Speaker. It was then that the Prime Minister stood to nominate Dr Vishwa Mahadeo, which was again seconded. However, a second nomination was made from the opposition benches as Natasha Singh-Lewis nominated Tabitha Sarabo-Halley for the post. With this, the house went to a vote and 17 members voted for Sarabo-Halley, while 36 members voted for Dr Mahadeo. As Such, Dr Mahadeo was elected and subsequently administered the oath as the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly. Dr Mahadeo served as a Member of Parliament in the 12th parliament and serves as the Director General at the Ministry of Health.
