BREAKING NEWS: APNU agrees to AFC's Raphael Trotman as House Speaker

Mr. Raphael Trotman
The Alliance For Change and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) have reached agreement that Attorney-at-Law, Raphael Trotman would be Speaker of the National Assembly, according to insiders in both parties.
The 10th Parliament would be convened on Thursday at 2 PM at Parliament Building. APNU official, Joseph Harmon refused to be drawn into specifics, only saying that "If he is the only candidate on the AFC, we will have to work with what is there." "We are still talking and I believe that by tomorrow we would arrive at a position that is acceptable."
Demerara Waves Online News ( www.demwaves.com ) was told that the APNU late Tuesday evening accepted Trotman. In turn, AFC is expected to support Deborah Backer for the post of Deputy Speaker. According to well-placed insiders, APNU and AFC representatives could meet within the next 24 hours to finalize details of the vote in the House among the 7-seat AFC and the 26-seat APNU.
When contacted by demwaves.com Trotman did not deny that the issue had been settled with his name emerging on top saying instead that he had received no official word to that effect.
Trotman - a former executive member of the Peoples National Congress Reform (PNCR) - is currently AFC’s leader and Representative of the List of candidates.
Demwaves.com was told that AFC backed down from its original rigid stance of Nagamootoo or no one else after the APNU decided to accept Trotman.
The AFC had, however, planned to revert to Nagamootoo with a first crack at rotation if APNU had rejected Trotman.
Early signs of a possible Trotman Speakership had emerged when it became clear that he would not have been a Member of Parliament.
Opposition Leader-designate, David Granger said Tuesday on the privately-run television newscast, Capitol News, that “Based on the principles that we have outlined that we have discussed among ourselves we fell that the APNU, we would accept someone who does not have that historical connection with the PPP."
APNU had rejected Nagamootoo's appointment saying his departure last year from the PPP, with which he had been associated for some 50 years,  was too recent for comfort. The coalition last week proposed that the two parties rotate the Speakership with them taking the first term but the AFC countered by saying they should have the first go at it.

what will moses do now

Born in 1966 in New Amsterdam in Region #6 into a family of lawyers, is himself a family man, married to Nicola Denise Trotman, he is the father of four.

His contribution to influence the landscape of Guyana’s civil society, its politics and national development, commenced over a decade ago, when he was first elected a member of the Mayor and Councilors of the capital City of Georgetown (1994) and an elected a Member of Parliament since 1998.

Over the ensuing years, Mr. Trotman has gained significant experience in city and political government. He has been Chairman of the Legal Affairs and Security Committee of the City Council, and a member of several Parliamentary Select Committees from 1999-2001, including from 2001-2005, a member of the Foreign Relations and the Constitution Reform and Standing Order Committees of Parliament. He has participated as a member of a Study Mission to the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland to observe the “Good Friday” Peace Agreement and process, in 1998.

This son of the soil has also benefited from post graduate training at the National Defense University in Washington DC and from Harvard University – School of law. Mr. Trotman holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from the prestigious Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Massachusettes, USA .

He has attended a British Government sponsored Workshop for Parliamentary Scholars and Parliamentarians in 2000 in the United Kingdom, and a World Bank Seminar on Parliament, Good Governance and Poverty Reduction in Helsinki, Finland, in 2003.

Little more than 24 hours after the opposition coalition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) agreed in principle to support the Alliance For Change’s (AFC) Raphael Trotman for Speakership of the National Assembly, a firm decision Wednesday night appeared delicately poised.