— accuses GHRA, TIGI of trying to confuse nation

MR. HAMILTON Green, Prime Minister of Guyana in a People’s National Congress Administration that lasted from 1985 to 1992, has dismissed as “irrelevant” criticisms of the Pension Bill crafted in his name, and has accused its two opponents, independent watchdog bodies Transparency International Guyana Incorporated (TIGI) and the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA), of trying to confuse the nation.

WITHDRAW
The GHRA, in a statement on Saturday, said the bill should be withdrawn on the ground that it is an insult to taxpayers of this generation, who are “prominently wage-earners”, to shoulder the burden of providing excessive pension for people who have “so curtailed this generation’s life chances”.

The human rights body contends that Green “never apologised for the humiliation, hardship and violence to which the Guyanese people were subjected during his harrowing term of office”; and has argued that the personalised bill to allow Green to be rewarded for a “lifetime of politics marked by incompetence and divisiveness is provocative,” given that the administration is attempting to curb corruption.

RESPONSE
Green, who also served as Mayor of the City of Georgetown for in excess of 20 years, posited that the GHRA and TIGI have “speculated on matters they don’t know about”.

“The response to that (tirade of criticism) is that these gentlemen or ladies obviously are versed in fomenting strife, distorting history, and not dealing with the relevant issue…. This kind of statement is mere propaganda being regurgitated, (and is) completely irrelevant,” Green told reporters on Monday.

“First of all, in every civilised country that I know, there are provisions made for pension and special benefits for former presidents and prime ministers, however styled. This is of universal application, and there is nothing unique about it,” he declared.

Green contends that, in all civilised societies, provisions are in place for former presidents and prime ministers to receive pension and other benefits, in order that they might maintain the lifestyle to which they were accustomed while in office.

“(In) Europe, UK, US, the salaries attached to the heads of states are always set aside for those purposes; and in each of those countries, there is poverty. And what we seek to do as politicians is to narrow that gap between the rich and the poor. It is not an easy thing, it is a constant struggle,” Green explained.

He reminded that it was under the former People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Administration that legislation was taken to the National Assembly for former presidents to receive pension and related benefits.

He said that, prior to Independence, such benefits were applicable, and he noted that in 1992, when the PPP Administration accepted the principle which existed since Independence, past presidents and prime ministers (Hugh Desmond Hoyte and Hamilton Green) benefited from security, drivers and a vehicle, among other things.

He reminded that the legislation was promulgated in 2011, and former Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, who receives a former President’s pension, made a plea for both former presidents and prime ministers to be allowed to live at a certain level, one consistent with the positions they had held.

“This problem started when the PPP took the matter to Parliament in 2011. They only catered for pensions and benefits for former presidents…I don’t know why they didn’t include former prime ministers,” he said.

Green said he made efforts under the former PPP Administration to acquire his pension, but he noted that there was some “error in the legislation”, and this had to be corrected.

He said the bill laid in the National Assembly is “an effort to correct” the error.

NOT ‘GREEN’
Asked if he believes the bill should be tabled in his name, Green responded in the negative. He said that when he was made aware of the draft legislation, he questioned why it carried his name.

The former Prime Minister concurred with the view expressed by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo that the legislation should be reviewed and his name should be removed.

The draft legislation, “Hamilton Green Pension Bill”, No.23 of 2016, which seeks to provide pension benefits and other facilities to Mr. Green, was tabled in Parliament on Monday, but a date for its debate has not yet been set.