PANAJI
Opposition legislators, though not all, walked out of the Goa legislative assembly on Thursday when Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai rose and began delivering his address, ostensibly to protest against the government curtailing the winter session to just two days.
Leader of the Opposition, Yuri Alemao, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs, Venzy Viegas and Cruz Silva, and Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP) MLA Viresh Borkar trooped out of the House after Alemao who attempted to speak and register their protest against the short duration of the session before the Governor was prevented from doing so.
“Kerala Assembly meets for an average of 50 days a year, while Goa’s average is only 26 days. This is the bulldozing of democracy,” Alemao said before he was stopped by Speaker Ramesh Tawardkar when the four MLAs walked out.
Another Opposition MLA, Goa Forward Party's Vijai Sardesai, however, stayed put in the House but held two placards with messages (one in English and other in Devanagari Konkani) to the effect that the government truncated the winter session because it did not want to be exposed on the job scam and other issues.
Meanwhile, the Opposition raised a hue and cry in the House post the Governor's address protesting against the Business Advisory Committee report not mentioning their objections against the government's act of curtailing the session.
When Chief Minister Pramod Sawant rose to place the BAC report for adoption by the House, Alemao, Viegas and Sardesai who are all part of BAC, objected that it did not register their inputs against the short session, including those submitted in writing.
After a brief interruption in the proceedings, however, the Speaker Ramesh Tawardkar sidestepped the Opposition's brouhaha and prodded Sawant to go ahead with the motion which he later put to a voice vote and got passed, technically ensuring that it was adopted by the House.
----
CM calls out LoP for absence to escort Gov
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday criticised Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao for his act of staying away from the House when Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai concluded his address and was leaving the Assembly hall.
"This is the first time in history that the Leader of the Opposition was absent when the Governor was leaving the hall and did not escort the Constitutional authority," Sawant said.
Alemao, however, had been part of the entourage along with Sawant and the Speaker Ramesh Tawardkar to escort Pillai into the House when he arrived at the Assembly complex on Thursday morning.
In a dig at Alemao, Sawamt said it is the responsibility of all to respect parliamentary democracy and the House.
