M A I N   N E W S

Goa Assembly gets pro tem Speaker
Shiv Kumar writes from Panjim

February 28
Goa's Governor S.C. Jamir tonight appointed Fransisco Sardinha as pro tem Speaker when the Assembly decides on Chief Minister Pratapsinh Rane's trust vote. Mr Sardinha, former Chief Minister and member of Parliament, is an MLA from the Congress. No date has been fixed for Mr Rane's trust vote.

Earlier in the day, the Pratapsinh Rane government was on tenterhooks after Speaker Vishwas Satarkar and his deputy Narhari Haldankar resigned before the Chief Minister could take a vote of confidence.

Mr Satarkar went on to pass final orders disqualifying Deputy Chief Minister Filipe Neri Rodrigues thereby raising questions over the government’s numbers in the truncated 35-member legislative Assembly.

Minutes after the Assembly convened this afternoon, the Speaker announced the resignation of former BJP’s number two leader Digambar Kamat from the Assembly. Mr Kamat has since joined the Congress.

Mr Satarkar then passed orders disqualifying Mr Rodrigues as a member of the Goa legislature following a petition filed by BJP MLAs which alleged that the Deputy Chief Minister was a member of the BJP though he had contested and won as an Independent candidate.

The Speaker announced that his deputy Narhari Haldankar, also of the BJP, had resigned though he remained a member of the Assembly.

Calling to attention the Assembly’s business, the Speaker said the motion by Mr Rane seeking a vote of confidence was before the House.

Mr Satarkar, however, chose to resign citing anguish at the allegations made against him by Congress leaders following the dismissal of the Manohar Parrikar government in February. “I have been accused of murdering democracy. Today Congress leader Margaret Alva even made such remarks before the electronic media,” he said. He said he was resigning to express his anguish at the remarks made against him despite “functioning with total impartiality”.

With the disqualification of Mr Rodrigues, both Congress and BJP would have the support of 17 MLAs each. The Governor is likely to summon the Assembly in the next 48 hours under an interim Speaker to “complete the unfinished business of the House”, according to Raj Bhavan sources.

The BJP decided to let the interim Speaker be appointed from the Congress camp since the Speaker cannot vote in normal circumstances. Consequently, the BJP hopes to defeat the Rane government since it (the BJP) would have a majority of one. “It is the ruling party’s privilege to appoint a Speaker, I don’t have any objection to this,” Mr Parrikar said.

The Congress, on the other hand, is examining legal options to enable Mr Rodrigues to vote when Mr Rane’s confidence motion comes up in the next two days. “Filipe had filed a police complaint alleging that his signature was forged on the BJP’s membership form. The conspirators to the fraud should be brought to book,” Congress party president Luizinho Faleiro said.

Congress sources say that police action against some BJP leaders would precede an appeal by Mr Neri to the interim Speaker for permission to vote.

However, Mr Parrikar says Supreme Court judgements in the past do not permit Speakers to reverse their judgements. “Filipe Neri would not be permitted to vote when the motion is taken up,” Mr Parrikar said.

Meanwhile, the United Goans Democratic Party, which is backing the Congress-led coalition in Goa, is likely to press for the disqualification of its lone legislator Matanhy Saldanha.