Attorney-General flays ‘architects of disaster’
–for blaming Guyana’s predicament on the gov’t

ATTORNEY-GENERAL (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, has come out swinging against some opposition factions for attempting to blame the current administration for Guyana’s being blacklisted internationally.

“As the world is preparing to unleash an unknown and unpredictable regime of catastrophic sanctions that will ultimately make the life of every Guyanese much harder, the architects of this disaster luridly and ludicrously attempt to blame the Government for this tragedy,” Minister Nandlall said.

“This is why they have so callously and heedlessly pushed our country and its people, at the altar of their avarice, for political power. It’s as if theirs is a desire to preside over ruin, if only to preside,” he added.

‘…this disaster has been brought upon the people, singularly by the arrogance, stubbornness and greed of the combined Opposition for political power’

Last Thursday, the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) announced that Guyana has been referred to the international the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The regional watchdog’s review was in relation to the protection of the international financial system from money laundering and financing of terrorism risks, and the encouragement of greater compliance with standards.

The CFATF made it clear that Guyana has strategic Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) deficiencies, and has not made sufficient progress in addressing them.

In a public statement, CFATF said: “As a result of not meeting the agreed timelines in its action plan, the CFATF recognises Guyana as a jurisdiction with significant AML/CFT deficiencies which has failed to make significant progress in addressing those deficiencies, and the CFATF considers Guyana to be a risk to the international financial system.”

BILL NOT ENOUGH
The enactment of the AML/CFT (Amendment) Bill before CFATF’s meeting last week could, by all accounts, have averted Guyana’s referral to the FATF, particularly since the CFATF noted that 90 per cent of the deficiencies identified are legislative in nature.

“Mere passage of this Bill will not automatically extricate us from this morass,”he said. “It is a process; it takes years to exit the FATF supervision, once you become subject.”

However, Minister Nandlall made it clear that the hammer has already fallen, and that enactment of the legislation alone will not be enough.

“Mere passage of this Bill will not automatically extricate us from this morass,”he said. “It is a process; it takes years to exit the FATF supervision, once you become subject.”

CFATF has advised its members to take counter-measures to protect their financial systems from the ongoing money laundering and terrorist financing risks emanating from Guyana. Those counter measures include: The requirement of enhanced due diligence measures; introducing enhanced reporting mechanisms, or systematic reporting of financial transactions; refusing the establishment of subsidiaries or branches or representative offices in Guyana; and taking into account the fact that financial institutions from Guyana do not have adequate AML/CFT systems, and limit the business relationships or financial transactions with the country.

The Attorney-General also pointed out that the other challenge is the fact that the combined Opposition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC), are still calling for certain conditions to be met before they agree to pass the AML/CFT Bill. The AFC has, however, relaxed its demands a trifle.

‘I am not optimistic about their recent utterances that the Bill can be passed within a matter of hours. They didn’t pass it in over a year; nothing prevented them from so doing’

APNU, for instance, has proposed three amendments, but given that their proposals were viewed as problematic, the AG, on behalf of the Government, earlier this month offered them counter-proposals in the interest of ensuring that the amendments made are CFATF-compliant, and in the interest of reaching a compromise. These counter-proposals are being considered by the Parliamentary Select Committee, which has been reviewing the AML/CFT Bill for more than 12 months now. The committee held its most recent meeting on May 22, 2014.

The APNU maintains its position on conditional support for the Bill.
On the other hand, the AFC, which is fully behind APNU’s position, is demanding establishment of the PPC (Public Procurement Commission), which the Government has agreed to, provided that Cabinet retains its no-objection role in the process, but the latter position has been rejected by the AFC.

However, on Thursday evening, after the announcement by CFATF, the AFC, in a statement, noted that it is now willing to budge on its position and support Cabinet’s retention of its no-objection role.

“As far as I am aware,” Mr Nandlall said, “the Opposition has not relinquished their demands. The bottom line is, they have put Guyana in this cesspit and they must haul us out now.”

He is adamant that the Opposition’s demands ought to be the focus of some political process that is separate and apart from the Bill. “There is no connection,” he stressed.

FOREVER PESSIMISTIC
The AG contends that Guyana’s blacklisting is the “latest casualty” of the opposition parties’ one-seat majority.
“It is, indeed, their 48th Independence Anniversary gift to our country and our people. For this, they must never be forgotten,” he said.

Considering the state of affairs, Nandlall contends that wherever “ego does not yield to reason,” he will remain a pessimist that nothing good can come forth.

“I am not optimistic about their recent utterances that the Bill can be passed within a matter of hours,” he said. “They didn’t pass it in over a year; nothing prevented them from so doing.

“I tabled a Bill to meet these requirements (CFATF’s requirements) on behalf of the Government in April 2013. It was voted down by the joint Opposition in November 2013. I re-tabled that Bill in December 2013, and it is not yet passed, simply because the joint Opposition has refused to do so. These are the facts, devoid of any esoteric or political content and sentiments.

“Significantly, this disaster has been brought upon the people, singularly by the arrogance, stubbornness and greed of the combined Opposition for political power.”

The AG also noted that the many Opposition members who accused the Government of scaremongering should speak up now, given the challenges that currently face Guyana.
He said, “Every time I warned about this eventually, I and the Govt. were accused of engaging in “scare mongering tactics” by the joint opposition. Where are those voices now?

“…those in the Opposition, and other cynics who accused us in the Government of engaging in scaremongering tactics should now be called upon to answer for their irresponsible and utterly foolish assertions.”

FATF’s next plenary meeting is slated for June 23 to 25, 2014 in Paris, France, at which time the international body is likely to put Guyana up for review by its International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG).

(By Vanessa Narine)