– during panel discussion on “Guarding against Political Adventurism”
Parliament is the number one forum for dealing with the issues that Guyana has to confront; and under the People’s Progressive Party government, all evidence points to how sincere it has been in making parliament a reasonable option, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon said during a television programme “Guarding against Political Adventurism”, aired on the National Communications Network on Saturday evening.

Dr Luncheon, along with Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and Adviser on Governance Gail Teixeira, were speaking about calls by political parties for street protests.

Dr Luncheon said that the ruling party has done all that can conceivably be done to make parliament the kind of forum where the issues could be addressed and this is evident when the check list is done.

We cannot condone those who, with the greatest of nonchalance in the context of extremism, deal so uncharitably with the institution of Parliament…Parliament is the sane and the safe option…even those who might not feel attracted to the parliamentary option, we have to look at what the history of extra parliamentary action has brought about and what it is associated with,” Dr Luncheon said.

He noted that the issues that the political parties are raising do not have their logical and their reasonable end point or solution. With relation to the Ministry of Health fire, the police force is the agency that has to investigate, and it has to be given time and all matters that require investigation would be investigated, he said.

The Cabinet Secretary also spoke of another issue being raised by the political voices, that of the Roger Khan case which is currently ongoing in a New York court.

This notion that we could anticipate the outcome and put it in Parliament…we could go to the streets… this going to the street would it make the case in New York finish faster? Is it going to make the different disclosures happen quicker?”

Dr Luncheon said that the responses to street protest that have been seen over the years certainly suggest that the issues around which they are being encouraged “are nothing more than self-serving for political voices out there, other than that, it has nothing to offer rank and file Guyanese.”

Prime Minister Samuel Hinds called on Guyanese to guard against calls for civil disorder.

He said that since the 2006 elections, there has been some peace and quiet and the country has made gains on the economic and social fronts. He noted that it would be a terrible thing to put a halt to that again. “We shouldn’t want to get back there again.”

Teixeira, in urging Guyanese to guard against extremism, recalled some of the horrible experiences that they were made to face as a result of street protests.

“We also must not forget the burning of the Ministry of Housing after the 2001 elections; and so we have to recall these things and guard against that and to say to all our people that whatever problems we have and constraints, we can find a way to reach a compromise, to reach a solution within the constraints that we have as a poor country. We need to be able to be creative to come up with ideas on how to do it and to find special opportunities to discuss those issues, to agree or not to agree. Parliament is the key forum; but there are other ways for engaging at the bipartisan level to be able to reach agreements and to solve issues in the interest of the Guyanese people.”

She concurred with Dr Luncheon that the issues that are behind the calls for the protests are all very extraneous. (GINA)