Rohee urges continuation of “paradigm political shift” seen in Parliament

GENERAL Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Clement Rohee, has called for the political paradigm shift seen in the actions of Members of Parliament at the last sitting of the House to continue.Speaking at the party’s weekly press briefing yesterday, he said, “We hope that this paradigm political shift is not a mere aberration. While we recognise the Opposition’s right to oppose the Government on any given

Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee
Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee

matter and their power to withhold support from any Bill, we maintain that such right and power must at all times be exercised reasonably, fairly and always in the best interest of the welfare of the people of our country.”
The PPP General Secretary asserted that “….it was the first sitting of the National Assembly for 2014 and it is our expectation that this approach will be pursued throughout the year.”
Rohee also expressed his hope that this change by MPs, in putting the interest of Guyana and the Guyanese people first, is not optimism in vain.
According to him, the atmosphere and the sense of nationalism, which pervaded and permeated the last sitting of the National Assembly is welcomed by the ruling party.
He said, “In our New Year’s message delivered by our General Secretary, we said, ‘A new year always brings with it a renewed sense of optimism, and a hope for a brighter future … the PPP /C Administration has always recognised the importance of multi-party democracy’.
“In another statement issued two weeks ago, we congratulated the Government on attaining five percent economic growth for 2013, the highest recorded in the CARICOM Region for 2013.

IMPEDIMENTS

“…we also outlined the impediments to economic development and social progress in Guyana erected by the Opposition in the National Assembly.
“We cited the cutting of national budgets, the voting down of massive capital-funded projects such as the Cheddi Jagan Airport Expansion Project, the Specialty Hospital , the Amaila Falls Project, the refusal to support vital pieces of legislation, for example, the Anti-Money Laundering Bill, as examples to bolster the point.
“We expressed our profound disappointment, hence the question therefore which must cross every Guyanese mind is: “Imagine how well we would have done as a country and as a people if we had an Opposition that is progressive, responsible and patriotic in their approach to politics rather than being anti-democratic, spiteful and economic saboteurs, masquerading as political leaders’.
“We then expressed the hope that this year we will persuade them to act in the national interest.”

“Many from the Opposition, who spoke, echoed the call for us to practise and live Madiba. We emphatically concur. We now issue a call to invoke Madiba whenever we consider the people’s business in the National Assembly.” – Rohee

Rohee noted that it is against this backdrop that change seen in the first sitting of the National Assembly for 2014 is welcomed.

CONDEMN
However, in welcoming the change, the General Secretary noted that the fact that the combined Opposition supported the Bills tabled by the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, shows that their earlier non-support was not merit-based.
The three Bills – Summary Jurisdiction (Procedure) (Amendment) Bill 2013; Evidence (Amendment) Bill 2013; Firearms (Amendment) Bill 2013 – were reintroduced by the AG last year.
They were mired in controversy after they were first presented by Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee and were rejected by the Opposition, which moved a no-confidence motion against the minister.
In that context, Rohee said, “They were rejected simply because of the person who tabled them. Their merit, value and importance to the Guyanese people were all rejected. It was a naked act of political pettiness, personal spite and political ‘bullyism’.”
“We condemned their actions then. We knew and they knew that the people’s support resonated on our side. So much so, that the AFC publicly vowed to table the Firearms (Amendment) Bill themselves.
“In the last sitting of the National Assembly, these very Bills were elaborately lauded and their import emphasised in great detail by the very Opposition, which rejected them in 2013.
“…the Bills are all designed to improve the lives and advance the welfare of the people of Guyana and Guyana as a nation state.”
Recalling that the National Assembly supported a motion to pay tribute to the world icon, Nelson Mandela, the General Secretary stressed the need for the virtues that were expounded on by MPs, be evidenced in their actions.
He said, “Many who paid tribute to the political icon and indeed legendary Nelson Mandela, expounded his greatest virtues – his magnanimity and his dedication to advancing the welfare of not only the people of South Africa but of people everywhere.
“Many from the Opposition, who spoke, echoed the call for us to practise and live Madiba. We emphatically concur. We now issue a call to invoke Madiba whenever we consider the people’s business in the National Assembly.
“We reiterate that we must all act magnanimously and judiciously, with the people’s welfare remaining as our paramount priority,” the General Secretary added.
Rohee also made it clear that if this approach is adopted, “then and only then” will MPs be practising and living Mandela.
“Then there will only be one victor, Guyana and her people,” he stressed.
Parliament is next expected to meet on Thursday, January 23.

(By Vanessa Narine )

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