Opposition walkout over Shuman’s selection as Deputy Speaker

Guyana’s main Opposition A Partnership For National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition earlier this morning staged a parliamentary walkout of the National Assembly over the selection of Lennox Shuman as the Deputy Speaker of the House.

Opposition MP Cathy Hughes with Opposition Leader, Joseph Harmon speaking to the media.

Deeming it an “abomination”, Opposition MP Cathy Hughes posited that it displayed the government’s unwillingness to work together and uphold some of the longstanding conventions of Parliament.
“We find it an abomination that Mr. Shuman who comes from a party who got specifically 2,657 votes…I’m sure you the members of the media have more Facebook friends than votes that he got,” Hughes added.
Further, Hughes noted that Shuman vowed to keep the new People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) in check, however he accepted a Ministerial Advisor position, a clear conflict of interest.
To put Shuman as the Deputy Speaker when such a position was always held by the main Opposition, she said, the move was very unfortunate.