Browne and Charles: Ready to serve

Teamwork, accompanied by healthy discussion in carrying out the work of the people.{{more}}

This is the general feeling expressed by newly appointed Unity Labour Party (ULP) Senators David Browne and Elvis Charles.

Speaking to SEARCHLIGHT on Tuesday, December 28, the day before the two were to take the oath at the first session of the ninth sitting of the House of Assembly, Browne and Charles shared similar sentiments, saying that they would be working in the best interest of the people.

“I am expecting a stronger level of debate as we are all mature individuals and I am expecting that whatever is put forward will be done so at the highest level that it can be done,” Browne told SEARCHLIGHT.

“Sometimes it doesn’t turn out that way, but I am expecting it to be so,” he added.

“The Opposition has a stronger team now and I will expect for them to show up and do the work of the people.”

“I don’t expect the Opposition to walk out, but to work for the people,” he further contended.

As for his proposed appointment as Deputy Speaker of the House, Browne said that although he knows he has his work cut out, he was already preparing himself for the position.

Charles, who was appointed Senator and Parliamentary Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, said that he would be looking to the more experienced Parliamentarians to guide him through the process of becoming more efficient in representing the people.

“I am going to do the best I can and will not stop until I achieve that,” Charles said.

He added that there have been many distractions in the past and that there will continue to be “a lot of trivialities”.

“But I am hoping to be one of the persons to bridge the differences,” he said, adding that he was not looking at the House as an ‘us’ versus ‘them’ situation.

Charles and Browne are among the new faces who will sit on the government side of the House of Assembly.

Elected representatives Frederick Stephenson and Maxwell Charles will also be entering parliament for the fist time. Stephenson’s portfolio includes the Ministry of National Mobilisation, Social Development, the Family, Persons with Disabilities, Youth, Sport and Culture with Charles being appointed to the Ministry of National Reconciliation, Public Service, Labour, Information and Ecclesiastical Affairs.

Experienced Parliamentarians Dr Douglas Slater and Julian Francis are the two other persons who have been appointed Senators by the government.

Slater has also been appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Consumer Affairs, while Francis has been once again given the portfolio of Minister of Transport and Works, Urban Development and Local Government.

The business of the House of Assembly will be nothing new for newly elected parliamentary representatives Saboto Caesar and Cecil McKie who in the last sitting of the House were senators on the government side.

Caesar has been given full responsibility for the Ministry of Tourism and Industry, while McKie has been appointed Minister of Health, Wellness and the Environment.

The other four members of the house on the government side are veteran parliamentary representatives in the persons of Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, Minister Montgomery Daniel, Minister Girlyn Miguel and Minister Clayton Burgin. (DD)