* Govt decides house sitting & not Speaker: Tawadkar clarifies
* Won’t meet opposition MLAs until Vijai tenders public apology for his statements, says Speaker
Goemkarponn desk
PORVORIM: Goa Legislative Assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar today clarified that the state government solely decides the length of seating of the house.
“The length or seating of the House is decided by the government, while the business is approved by the Business Advisory Committee,” said Tawadkar.
He further said that the Speaker’s role is to only ensure fair and smooth conduct of the Session.
Tawadkar also demanded a public apology from Goa Forward MLA Vijai Sardesai for insulting the Speaker’s chair by calling him an “employee” of the CM.
Tawadkar has further refused to meet the Opposition till Sardesai tenders an apology.
“This is a complete insult to the speaker’s post. This is only done by the opposition to tarnish the image of the party,” he added.
Speaking on question curtailment, Speaker said that there should be a rule to only ask questions in a limited manner.
“The MLAs ask for voluminous replies, which are sometimes time-consuming and difficult,” he added.
The opposition pointed out that there are 19 first time MLAs who need to know about government policies and functioning beyond five years.
They also said that Private Members Day is a constitutional right of the legislator, which cannot be
