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Pratapsinh Rane elected Goa speaker

Sandesh Prabhudesai in Panaji

Pratapsinh Rane, nominee of the ruling Congress party, was elected the speaker of the newly elected ninth Goa assembly today, with 25 legislators voting for him in the 40-member house.

Besides 20 Congressmen, two members each of the Goa Rajiv Congress and the United Goans Democratic Party as well as the sole independent supported him.

The four-member Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party abstained from voting.

Though the confidence motion was dropped at the last minute with the governor's consent, the voting trend for the speaker's elections clearly indicate that Chief Minister Luizinho Faleiro is presently in a comfortable position.

As the ruling party has a clear majority of 21 in the house, Governor J F R Jacob agreed to Faleiro's request to allow him to proceed without proving his majority. "There is no such convention when one party has a clear majority," claimed Faleiro, referring to the motion.

MGP leader Ramakant Khalap, who still has his cards close to his chest, said they abstained because the ruling party had not agreed to the deputy speaker being from the opposition camp.

Khalap's proposal in regard to the deputy speaker was not accepted by Faleiro today. Manohar Parrikar of the Bharatiya Janata Party, who would now be the leader of the opposition, however said the Congress had expressed its helplessness in not accepting the demand.

After limiting the cabinet to six members, Faleiro is struggling to keep the remaining 14 Congress members happy by allotting them posts of two parliamentary secretaries, that of the deputy speaker and chairmanship of a few corporations.

Rane, who has been chief minister four times in the past including two full terms, finally obeyed the Congress high command by accepting the speaker's post.

But Alex Sequeira, the sole Member of Legislative Assembly elected unopposed, has still not accepted the decision the Congress Legislature Party had taken in his absence to be the deputy speaker.

Eyeing the two additional slots in the cabinet, Sequeira is still pressing for a ministerial position.

Seven former ministers are harassing Faleiro for the same. Fearing trouble, he has not even announced the portfolios to date.

While he plans to allot portfolios after the two-day session is adjourned today, the future of his government would ultimately depends on how he succeeds in satisfying his cabinet colleagues.

Faleiro has two opponents within the cabinet, aspiring to be chief minister.

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