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Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett; Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Jennifer Webster; Presidential Advisor on Governance, Gail Teixeira; and PPP/C Member of Parliament Dr. Vindiya Persaud, who appeared on the programme, bemoaned the negative impact such events had on the country that the ruling party “rebuilt” and “developed” over the last 20 years.
“Post 2011 elections… it’s a different political environment we’re working in, where it seems to be fraught with political extremism, with bullyism,” Teixeira said in her opening statement.
The Linden and Agricola protests were marked by violent clashes between police and protestors that were widely believed to have been incited by opposition politicians; but the panelists, discussing the issues, focused on impacts the two incidents had on women, the elderly and children.
“I walked among some of the crowd (at Agricola) and actually spoke with several persons, and several children were agitated, weren’t able to do their homework, and it had a very severe impact on family life,” Minister Webster said.
The Agricola protest stemmed from the shooting to death of Agricola youth Shaquille Grant, and escalated after one of the police officers charged in connection with the shooting appeared at the Magistrate’s Court in October. They were apparently angry that the rank arrived in a police vehicle rather than a prison van, and the others implicated didn’t show up.
The media reported that utterances by Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon, started the unrest; but the government side was convinced that the ultimatum given by Alliance For Change (AFC) members Nigel Hughes and Moses Nagamootoo was the cause.
It was the view of the panellists that women and children should not be the ones exposed to such acts, and that Guyanese, (whether for or against the government) are getting turned off.
Teixeira believes that the women representatives in APNU and the AFC share similar sentiments, but are hesitant to speak because of party allegiance.
The “inciting role” played by the media, particularly the social media, and the responsibility of journalists to report the truth with impartiality and the country’s interest at heart were also agreed on by the panellists.
“Even though it’s a small segment of the population that’s doing this, it speaks about the image of our country as well, and I think we have to be very careful,” Minister Rodrigues-Birkett said.
As a newcomer, MP Persaud is disappointed with the way things are playing out in the highest decision-making body of the land, to which she had hopes of making a contribution, but described as a “battlefield.”
“Going in there, I went with a sense of enthusiasm and also a sense of expectancy; because, as I figured with this new dispensation, as it is called, they would be at a level of maturity… However, I must say I am very disappointed with what has unfolded,”
Even with the caution from President Donald Ramotar against a gridlock, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), with 26 seats, and the Alliance For Change (AFC), with seven, gave them the advantage needed for vengeance in the Tenth Parliament, cutting $21B from the $192.6B National Budget for 2012, and rejecting allocation to key government sectors that threatened the livelihood of hundreds of employees.
It was observed that key development projects that were poised to catapult Guyana’s economy were denied budgetary allocations, and that both the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly were selected from the opposition. (GINA)
