STATEMENT BY GANGA SINGH

Mr Speaker, fortunately for all of us, the rule of law and the duty to adhere to the provisions and principles of our constitution prevailed. It is now accepted and widely established, that the Political Leader is the sole arbiter of when the holder of the Office of Chief Whip will face his or her demise.

Of course, it is always open to the Chief Whip to decide for himself that it is no longer desirable to serve in such capacity.

Mr Speaker, I want to congratulate you and the other Officers of this Parliament for preserving the rule of law and our constitutional supremacy, which at times, I feared was under attack.

Mr Speaker, in this regard, I take this opportunity to remind this Honourable House of the words of Voltaire (which I myself have had cause to recall on more than one occasion over the past few months) and he says “I may disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Sadly, the reality for many, is that speaking freely incurs the wrath of the hierarchy.

But those of us who feel compelled to speak up and oppose discernible wrongs, must take solace in the fact that their courage is contagious. You see, when a brave man — or woman — takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened.

You see, Mr Speaker, while caged birds accept and find comfort in each other, it is flight and the ability to sing freely they really long for.

Mr Speaker, the attempts and threats to remove me from this Office culminating in the delegation to you at the last sitting of this Parliament, are flagrantly unjust, without basis and I will add, wholly undeserved.

Mr Speaker, the naked hunger with which some moved to abuse the power vested in them was left unsatiated. That this Parliament has to become embroiled in this debacle, in which I am a central figure, is to say the least, distasteful to me, particularly at a time when the attention of this House must be focused on the critical matters affecting our citizenry.

Over the last four and a half years, Mr Speaker, it has been a distinct privilege and honour for me to serve this House as Chief Whip, duties which my colleagues would agree I undertook fairly and fearlessly. That I have played a pivotal role in every major matter brought to this House by the Opposition also cannot be denied.

In executing my duties, I have always been guided by the principles of democracy, fairness, the rights and obligations of individuals and institutions and the fundamental duty to adhere to the rule of law and the constitution.

In all this, I executed all my actions in the best interests of my party and ensured that such actions were always consistent with the country’s interests.

The continuing abuse of power by some, who are not even elected Parliamentarians, manifested itself recently in the “Cabal Style” conspiracy to avert the scrutiny, opinion and consultation with the parliamentary caucus of this Opposition on a critical matter of national concern.

Mr Speaker, under no circumstances, must we accept that the tyranny of a few should prevail over free will — even if as they suggest, they did it in the interests of “political expediency” and in obedience to an instruction received, such actions can never be justified.

Mr Speaker, as Chief Whip and Chairman of the Parliamentary Caucus from the Opposition Party, it is clear that too much unproductive effort is being expended to consistently undermine me as I seek to carry out my duties. These energies should really be otherwise engaged. In all of this, my greatest concern is that the resulting environment of paranoia, deception and mistrust is bound to eventually affect the fluency and efficiency with which I undertake my duties as Chief Whip — an efficiency and fluency which I have defined and of which I remain proud, notwithstanding the presence of enormous challenges and obstacles.

Mr Speaker, it was in October 2005 that a separation was created in the role of Political and Opposition Leader. On the one hand, I believed that the approach was fundamentally flawed having regard to our constitutional and parliamentary traditions and that it would be fraught with inherent challenges. On the other hand, I accepted the challenge and tried to make this work, believing that the resulting deformed political creature was merely a temporary and interim measure, conceived as it was out of petulance on a bed of deceit, betrayal and selfishness. I believed then, that in the fullness of time, good sense and the wisdom of experience would have prevailed.

Sadly, when recently, the opportunity presented itself to heal this deformity, we see instead that the deformed political creature continues to be perpetuated, the result of party politics gone mad!

Mr Speaker, the malady in the body politic runs deep and the desperate cry for the panacea of unity rings hollow.

Even with the best political will, after seven months of nurturing this political creature, I am now compelled to admit that it is simply unworkable, impractical and above all, it is not in the best interest of the party I serve and the interest of this country we love.

Mr Speaker, it is in these circumstances, after frank discussions with the Political Leader and members of the Careen East Constituency Executive, and with their collective support, that I now inform this Honourable House of my resignation from the position of Chief Whip with immediate effect.

I remain committed to and will adhere to the principles, values and ideals of the party to which I belong, accepting always its credo that “men and institutions remain free only when such freedom is founded upon moral and spiritual values and the rule of law.”

As I depart from this Parliamentary Position, I wish to personally thank you, Mr Speaker, the Clerk of the House, members of Staff and the Honourable Leader of Government Business - the Member for Diego Martin Central - for the co-operation and professionalism extended throughout my tenure.

Thank you and may God bless us all.