EDMONTON—The New Democrats slammed the United Conservative government over the replacement of the clerk of the legislative assembly on Friday, calling it a partisan move.

Late Friday afternoon, the legislative assembly sent out a news release saying Merwan Saher had been replaced as clerk by Shannon Dean.

“I’m excited that we have the opportunity to have Ms Dean, the first female clerk of the legislative assembly of Alberta with over two decades of non-partisan experience, providing guidance and leadership to the organization,” Nathan Cooper, the Speaker and a United Conservative Party MLA, said in an interview with Star Edmonton.

“I’m disappointed, obviously not all members of the assembly are going to agree with decisions that the Speaker makes all the time, but I’m disappointed that the leader of the Opposition would turn this into a partisan issue implying that the Speaker made a partisan appointment.”

The clerk is a non-partisan chief executive officer of the legislature, but has the same standing as a deputy minister in a government. They take on managerial and procedural duties overseen by the Speaker.

Opposition leader Rachel Notley called Saher’s replacement a partisan tactic and a “co-ordinated effort by the UCP to muzzle those that don’t agree with the new premier (Jason Kenney).”

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“Today’s replacement of the clerk of the legislative assembly is an unprecedented and shocking development that raises serious concerns about the level of non-partisan service that can be expected by members of the official Opposition from the Speaker’s office and the associated Legislative Assembly Office (LAO),” Notley said.

Cooper wouldn’t comment on the work Saher had done before being fired, saying that he wanted to move in a “different direction.”

“I thank Merwan for his service to the legislative assembly. He played an important role in a transition period,” Cooper said.

“I think that having someone with the experience that Ms Dean does is very important to a brand new Speaker.”

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Before serving as clerk, Saher was Alberta’s auditor general for eight years and has previously served for decades in public office.

Notley said Saher’s “only crime can be described as being a nationally respected public official with a multi-decade-long record of objective, neutral and exceptional public service.”

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