Guyana Creates History With First Indigenous Deputy Speaker

NEWS AMERICAS, NEW YORK, NY, Weds. Sept. 2, 2020: The South American CARICOM nation of Guyana created history on Tuesday, Sept. 1st, with the election of the country’s first Indigenous Deputy Speaker in its National Assembly.

Lenox Shuman was nominated by Guyana Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips and seconded by Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira. The election of Shuman, who served as Toshao of St. Cuthbert’s Mission and Vice Chairman of the National Toshaos Council, came as Guyana ushered in Indigenous Heritage Month.

The new deputy speaker said that it will be a honour and a privilege to serve in the capacity and hopes his new role inspires young Indigenous men and women to be more ambitious.

“We should look at the sky as the limit. There should be no limit,’ he urged. “Now we have an Indigenous Deputy Speaker of the House. I am hopeful that in the next 15 to 20 years that we are going to see an Indigenous Speaker of the House. We are going to see an indigenous Prime Minister and one day see an indigenous President.”

As the deputy speaker, he pledged to be apolitical and act in the best interest of the people, while as the Member of Parliament representing the joinder parties, he promised to work for all of Guyana, with a special interest on the development of the Hinterland.

His nomination was opposed by the country’s main opposition in the Assembly, the APNU/AFC, which had contended that the post of Deputy Speaker traditionally goes to the main Parliamentary Opposition and had nominated Raphael Trotman for the post.

But he was outvoted by 34-31, in favor of Shuman, the Leader of the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), which, through its joinder with the A New and United Guyana (ANUG) and The New Movement (TNM) won a seat in the National Assembly.