There is no official title as “shadow minister” – Nandlall

Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall has made it pellucid that there is no official title as “shadow minister”.
In this regard, he has ridiculed Opposition Members of Parliament, who attribute the term ‘shadow minister’ to their official titles.

“In the British system, there is a tradition…you are assigned responsibility and they loosely call it ‘shadow’, you are shadowing this minister. In Guyana, these people take it and make it a title, they have it on their cards, they sign their names. I saw Amanza Desir signed her name and below it, has ‘Member of Parliament’ and ‘Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs’. These people think that this is real thing, that it is an actual title,” Nandlall expressed.
Moreover, he explained that during a parliamentary sitting, if he is not present, there cannot be a “shadow attorney general”.
“Check the definition of what ‘shadow’ means. I have to be there to cast the shadow, because I’m the real thing, I’m the object. So, when they say there’s a ‘shadow attorney general’, if I am not there, there is no shadow…if I am not in the Parliament, they cannot have a shadow attorney general because my object is not there to reflect a shadow…”
It has been common practice for Opposition Members of Parliament to be assigned portfolios alongside that of sitting Ministers of Government, when attending sittings of the National Assembly.