PANDAY BLANKS CPA CONFERENCE

Under questioning, House Speaker Barry Sinanan admitted that Panday’s last minute notice threw the Parliament and the CPA off "because we were expecting him."

"I thought perhaps a representative of the Leader of the Opposition could have filled in, but there was no such luck," he said, adding that although Leader of Government Business in the Senate, Wade Mark, was present at the function, there was no indication that he (Mark) was authorised to speak on Panday’s behalf. Sources regretted that Panday, who had been requested by the CPA representatives months earlier to deliver an address, could not have informed the Parliament and the CPA earlier.

Parliamentary staff had to rush to move Panday’s name plate, but left the empty chair at the head table.

Yesterday’s ceremony, which was held in the Parliament Chamber, was attended by the several VIPs, including Nevis Premier Vance Amroy; Deputy Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, and Deputy Prime Minister of Belize, John Briceno. Speaking at the event was Prime Minister Patrick Manning.

However, there was a relatively poor showing from the local MPs. On the Government side, out of a total of 36 MPs, only Camille Robinson-Regis, Stanford Callendar, Christine Kangaloo, Knowlson Gift and Satish Ramroop were there. (THA leader Orville London was present). The Opposition’s representation was equally poor, with no elected MPs present, and just three senators — Mark, Roy Augustus and Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan — attending. The best showing came from the Independent Senators, with five of the nine — Noble Khan, Basharat Ali, Kenneth Ramchand, Parvatee Amolsingh-Mahabir and Dana Seetahal — attending.

Asked if he was happy with the attendance on both sides of the House, Sinanan said: "Well, these things could be better. Hopefully the plenary would be well attended."

Questioned whether he was satisfied with the security situation in the Parliament, Sinanan said the security "not only in the Parliament, but anywhere in Trinidad and Tobago and the world, could be better. "But we are striving to make sure that it is good, and that everybody who deals with Parliament would be safe."

Referring to reports that the Marshal of the Parliament was sent away for failing to ensure that the Speaker’s instructions to evict Chandresh Sharma were not followed, Sinanan said that Gilbert Hamilton’s — the Marshal — contract was up, and he was currently holidaying in Texas. Speaking earlier at the opening ceremony, Sinanan said that successful politics required a moderate political climate with the ability to amicably settle political differences. "Democracy needs an opposition both inside and outside of Parliament, whose strength and discipline establishes the standard for freedom and tolerance within a nation state," he said. He added that cooperation between opposition and government was necessary for the peaceful and progressive development of democratic political systems.