Goa Assembly's acting speaker Michael Lobo wants CM's post
Panaji, May 2: Goa Assembly's acting Speaker Michael Lobo Thursday said he would prefer to be the Chief Minister if given a chance by his party BJP instead of becoming a full-time Speaker.
His comments came ahead of election for the Speaker's post in the upcoming monsoon session of the Assembly.
The post of Speaker fell vacant after incumbent Pramod Sawant was elected the Chief Minister following the demise of Manohar Parrikar on March 17.
Lobo was elected the deputy speaker in March 2017 after the BJP-led government came to power in the state. He has been officiating as the acting Speaker after Sawant took over as the chief minister.
"As acting Speaker, I have got an opportunity to be the Speaker of the House and I don't want to continue to hold this post.
"I have told my party (BJP) that I am not in the race for the post of Speaker," Lobo said while talking to reporters in his chamber.
"The Speaker means you have to be very neutral. You cannot take up issues of general public. You can only call government officers and get work done from them.
"You cannot raise issues in the assembly, you cannot raise issues outside the assembly," said the BJP legislator known for issue-based attack on his own government.
Lobo said the Speaker is a neutral position and when someone assumes that office he has to be impartial.
He said a senior member of the House should take up that position and then revealed his chief ministerial ambition.
"I wanted to become the CM. The party has not done it.
I am still waiting that they will do it," Lobo said.
The MLA said he does not want to become the Speaker even if the BJP forces him to take up the constitutional post.
"If the party forces me to become the CM, I will be ready, but if the party forces to become the Speaker I wont. I am happy as deputy speaker," he added.
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Trump pauses Project Freedom, claims great progress for final agreement with Iran
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump has suspended “Project Freedom,” to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, claiming progress in negotiations with Iran toward an agreement to end the war.
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump said, “Great progress has been made toward a complete and final agreement with representatives of Iran.”
“Based on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran, we have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed," Trump said.
Project Freedom was launched on Monday to escort ships, stranded due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, out to safety. Trump had announced the operation on Sunday and the US Central Command began implementing it the next day.
However, the Project led to friction in the vicinity of the narrow seaway, a key route for transporting one-fifth of the global oil supplies, with the UAE claiming that its ships were attacked by Iran. The US also claimed to have destroyed several Iranian small boats.
Trump’s statement on Truth Social came hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Operation Epic Fury, launched on February 28, had concluded as its objectives have been achieved.
"Operation Epic Fury is concluded. We achieved the objectives of that operation. We're not cheering for an additional situation to occur. We would prefer the path of peace. What @POTUS would prefer is a deal... that is, so far, not the route that Iran has chosen," Rubio told a press conference at the White House on Tuesday.
On Project Freedom, Rubio said the goal was to rescue almost 23,000 civilians from 87 different countries who were trapped inside the Persian Gulf and left for dead by the Iranian regime.
"This is not an offensive operation. This is a defensive operation, and what that means is very simple: there’s no shooting unless we're shot at first. We’re not attacking them, but if they're attacking us or they’re attacking a ship, you need to respond to that," Rubio said.
