Guyana will come before the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in October of this year, and while the Parliament has approved the amendment to the Anti Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) legislation, clearing the way for international financial compliance, there are still measures to be implemented before the country is in the safe zone. The AML/CFT Act, which was approved by President David Granger in early July, will see the appointment of a 10-member AML/CFT Authority. That authority is to be set up on the recommendation of the Parliamentary Committee on Appointments.
The Committee is made up of all members of the National Assembly, both Government and Opposition, which must have meaningful consultation on the names of appointees to constitutional and other legislative agencies.
The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), since its defeat at the May 11 elections, has never attended any of the sittings of the 11th Parliament since it opened on June 10.
While the party’s General Secretary Clement Rohee has maintained the party is not sure when it will be heading to the National Assembly, the PPP/C has officially submitted its list of candidates for the 11th Parliament (2015-2020) to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), and the Office of the Parliament of Guyana.
The PPP/C was yesterday present at a special orientation session for new Parliamentarians, which saw newcomers Charles Ramson, son of former Attorney General Charles Ramson Sr; Harry Gill; former head of the National Toshaos Council; Yvonne Pearson; former Permanent Secretary of Amerindian Affairs Ministry, now Indigenous Peoples’ Ministry, Nigel Dharamlall; Zulfikar Mustapha, former Permanent Secretary of what was previously known as the Local Government Ministry, now the Ministry of Communities, Collin Croal.
The PPP/C could make an appearance today in the National Assembly. The move by the PPP/C could see some hope in the appointment of the AML/CFT Authority ahead of the FATF meeting in Paris this October, where Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams, will present Guyana’s case.
Governance Minister Raphael Trotman told reporters yesterday at a post-cabinet press briefing at the Ministry of the Presidency, that as it relates to the role of the PPP/C in setting up the authority, the A Partnership for National Unity +Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Government “would not want to proceed [with] a decision without involving the Opposition.”
The Minister acknowledged, at the time of his statements yesterday morning, the National Assembly is without an Opposition, and he hopes that the PPP/C will make its parliamentary debut at today’s sitting of the National Assembly in the 11th Parliament.
Trotman was keen to tame his optimism, declaring that in the absence of the PPP/C in the National Assembly before Guyana’s October deadline, the Government would have to pass the laws and implement measures in order to ensure the country’s compliance.
While Cabinet has already approved the travels of the Attorney General and some other Government officers to attend the Paris meeting, Trotman told the media the Government is confident in its standing, and “we are well on our way to restoration of credibility [in the international financial system].”

By Derwayne Wills