Jul 27, 2026 Editorial, News

(Kaieteur News) – Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir, is in the spotlight. He does not have plenty of space to maneuver, his back is up against a wall, and the corners are tight. How will the speaker respond? The call is for a debate in parliament on the terms of reference for an independent Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the MV Barima disaster. What will the speaker do? Will he open the chambers of parliament to an honest debate, or will he disagree?

The speaker now finds himself in a most uncomfortable place: the lengthy rope of his past. Either, it catches up with him and ties him up, or it frees him and gives him new standing. Before there can be a debate of any kind on the national disaster that is the sinking of the MV Barima and its 72 and counting confirmed dead, there is a question to be answered. Does the Speaker Nadir consider the MV Barima disaster a development worthy of parliamentary minutes? This is where his record comes into play, puts him to the test.