PANAJI
In such a situation, where a party has to prove its majority, the pro-tem Speaker is, according to law, the oldest elected member of the legislative assembly. In this case, the oldest MLA is Pratapsingh Rane from the
Congress.
But being in the Opposition, would it mean that the Congress would be in a better position to prove their majority? According to ex-Speaker of the House, Francisco Sardinha, it isn’t.
“Irrespective of which party the Speaker belongs to, he has the task of stating the facts as they are. If one side has 21 and the other has 17, he cannot say anything other than the exact numbers,” said Sardinha.
He said irrespective of which party he belonged to, the pro-tem speaker has to place the facts as they are. “No senior person would want his nose cut by giving a biased decision. One must understand that whatever decision is taken, it can be challenged in a court and if found true, disrupts the decision maker’s reputation,” said Sardinha.
But with a government already in place, the chances of the pro-tem speaker being a BJP man, may also happen. According to another ex-Speaker, Tomazinho Cardozo, said since the government was already sworn in as of Tuesday, the ruling may put a man of their own.
“As per the law, the senior most member should be the speaker, but since the government was already formed, they may put up their own man. It remains to be seen what exactly the Supreme Court has said in its order,” said Cardozo.
In such a case, 62-year old Francis D’Souza and 60-year old Sudhin Dhavalikar would fit the bill. Other MLAs that have held post as pro-tem speaker include Somnath Zuwarkar and Alexio Sequeira.
