“THE nation cannot be held at ransom; this nation cannot be exposed to perils because Mr. (Khemraj) Ramjattan has some spiritual upheaval.”

That was Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mr. Anil Nandlall, who this past week yet again lamented the reasons proffered by the Alliance for Change (AFC) for its non-support of the amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism laws.
Nandlall appeared in a televised interview this past week, and also roundly rejected opposition claims that it did not have time to adequately peruse the proposed legislation. The claim that they did not have time to read the Bill is not valid, posits Nandlall, who reminded that the amendments in totality span a mere four pages, for which the combined opposition had six weeks’ notice.
“As difficult as reading may be, six weeks must be enough time to read four pages,” surmised the Attorney-General, who said the position adopted particularly by Ramjattan and the AFCwas irrational.
He was referring to Ramjattan’s assertion that among the reasons for withholding support was the fact that Head of State, Mr Donald Ramotar, had withheld his assent to two opposition-led bills.
Nandlall, in the televised interview, said Ramjattan concedes that the Bill is important for Guyana, and that strong positions against money-laundering have to be taken; that Guyana owes obligations to various treaties to which it is signatory; and yet the highly irrational position taken.
The Minister charged that Ramjattan is engaged in “a personal political bargaining exercise despite the fact that it will expose Guyana, its economy, and citizens to devastating impacts.”
According to the Minister, President Ramotar ensured that he comprehensively outlined the reasons for withholding his assent to the Bills and added that there have since been no reasoned or intelligent arguments against or in response to those reasons offered.
Nandlall reminded also that the AFC leader, Ramjattan had publicly stated that his “spirit is vexed… whatever that means, because the president withheld his assent to the Bill.”
The nation, Nandlall posits, cannot be held at ransom or exposed to perils of being blacklisted because “Ramjattan has some spiritual upheaval.”
Nandlall, as a result of the opposition causing Guyana to miss its deadline for the internationally required modifications to its financial architecture, will be heading Guyana’s delegation at the meeting of the Caribbean Action Task Force (CATF) from today in Nicaragua.
At this forum,Minister Nandlall is scheduled to present Guyana’s case and will be seeking an extension to fulfill the stipulated requirements needed to ensure Guyana’s financial and legislative compliance with international regulations.
Nandlall during the televised interview this past week stated also that he will be relating to the taskforce the reasons why Guyana was unable to comply with the requirements to avoid sanctions.
Should Guyana fail to secure the extension, Nandlall believes that, “It is Guyana that will be condemned, and the opposition parties in the parliament must accept full responsibility for this; while the Government may be exonerated; it is Guyana that will take the blame.”
He said too that the parliamentary Opposition has deliberately prolonged the passage of the amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering laws.
As a result, he said Government is currently left with no choice but to seek an extension to the initial May 27 deadline, the possibility of which from all indications “seems bleak.”
Nandlall reminded that should Guyana secure the requested extension, Government will still be faced with having to deal with the one-seat majority Opposition and its shenanigans, in an effort to successfully conclude this matter, and in so doing, save the country from serious international sanctions.
According to Nandlall, Guyana has been under scrutiny for some time, and has been complying with recommendations made since 2011.
These include submission of semi-annual reports; expansion of capabilities to monitor money laundering and related activities in Guyana.
He said that it was with the aim of achieving that objective that supervisory authorities were established to review institutions such as financial institutions, cooperatives, money transfer businesses, credit unions and other entities which the recommendations indicated should be subject to monitoring mechanisms.
These institutions all file reports with the FIU in compliance with the recommendations and standard set by the monitoring body, the Minister said. He pointed out however, that the evaluation is an ongoing one, and countries are put on continuous assessment, and are required to comply with mechanisms in place and to create new ones to enhance scrutiny.
The last set of recommendations for Guyana to adopt Minister Nandlall observed, are to be addressed through the legislative amendments proposed.
Guyana is required to report to the plenary session in Nicaragua that the enactment of this legislation has been completed. Unfortunately this has not happened.
It was explained to the Task Force previously that was also apprised of the configuration of Guyana’s Parliament and the fact that no legislation piloted by the Government can be approved in the National Assembly without the support of the Opposition.
A workshop was therefore organised in collaboration with the monitoring agencies and the diplomatic community to which both Opposition and Government were invited. The Opposition had then indicated their support for the Bill; as such non-support was not anticipated when the bill came up in the National Assembly. Further, the Opposition was aware of the Bill’s importance, and as such it was inconceivable that they would use it to engage in petty politics.
Unfortunately, the Opposition parties took the irrational position of withholding support to the Bill, lamented Nandlall.