–had a golden opportunity Monday, but blew it
AS IF Guyanese did not need another reminder that the Opposition political parties, in this case the PNC/APNU, cannot be trusted, they simply seem keen on giving Guyanese continuous examples to reinforce this fact.The latest episode occurred on Monday last in the National Assembly, where “Kiprich prodigy”, Basil Williams of “telephone mash up meh life” infamy was nominated by the opposition, who used their one-seat majority to push through the vote, as the new deputy speaker of the National Assembly.This follows the resignation of Mrs. Deborah Backer as an APNU Member of Parliament due to health reasons, for which she is seeking treatment overseas.
Old Kai is not being insensitive, as I genuinely hope she makes a full recovery; but let’s not forget that she was one of the persons who voted against the Specialty Hospital construction. Obviously, she would have had to fall in line with the decision of her party, especially knowing the militaristic, dictatorial tendencies which have re-emerged since 2011.
This reality exposes the fact that the Opposition is willing to even harm the well-being of their supporters, and in this case, a leader, just to be vindictive. And why, you may ask? Simply because the overseas company which had employed the AFC’s Khemraj Ramjattan did not win the contract for the construction through a fair bidding process. Get well soon, Debbie! And I have forgiven you for that little incident between us in 2012.
Back to Kiprich’s boy, Basil, as Old Kai is wondering if the Speaker will be his new Number One. On a more sober note, yesterday’s sitting was a lost opportunity to forge ahead in building national unity at the political level.
After the PPP/C announced its plans to embark on a broad left, progressive, democratic front “involving a number of categories of stakeholders, including politicians and organisations from across the social and political divide,” APNU, in typical reactionary mode, rushed to announce that it was keen on charting a new “social contract” to promote national unity, and forge greater partnerships with stakeholders, including Government.
Fair enough for Old Kai, but then, “talk is cheap”; you have to show you are serious by your actions. So, Monday was an appropriate time for the APNU to show they meant what they said in the election of the Deputy Speaker. One would have thought that APNU, in being magnanimous and serious about its social contract proposal (as the PPP/C has done previously when it held the parliamentary majority), would have chosen a member from the Government side of the House to replace Mrs. Backer as Deputy Speaker. This would have underlined the credentials of the APNU, and certainly would have shown that they are genuine about what they say, as they would have shown that they can reach across the political divide. Such a move would have been historic, and would have served to usher in a new era in our political culture in Guyana.
However, they failed the Guyanese people once again when it most mattered, and nominated one of their own, whom they used their one-seat majority to support. In all of this, the PPP/C side of the House was still gracious enough not to oppose the nomination.
No doubt, the APNU will rush to point out that it supported the nomination of PPP/C’s Bibi Shadick for “one” sitting last week as Acting Speaker, with the absence of Raphel Trotman and the incapacitated Deborah Backer. But this is when they did not enjoy their one-seat majority because of Backer’s absence.
The moment they swore in their new MP, Mrs. Cummings, on Monday, and in doing so regained their combined one-seat parliamentary leverage, all thoughts of Ms. Shadick vanished, and it was back to the “same ol’, same ol”. This confirms that the APNU or the wider opposition does not have the capacity or will to reach out; to enter new territory in engaging in acts of political maturity, and in doing so, live up to its billing as A Parthnership for National Unity.
The PPP/C is now left alone, with the responsibility of continuing to forge partnerships with all progressive-oriented demographics in the interest of our nation; but then again, it has always been this way.