THE main Opposition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), has squandered the most recent offer to reach a compromise on the passage of the critically important Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) (Amendment) Bill.

This was according to Secretary of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Ramesh Dookhoo, who made these statements in an invited comment, following a high-level meeting between President Donald Ramotar and senior PSC members last Thursday evening.

“They owe the nation an explanation, certainly the PSC would like to hear their explanations as to why they did not support their own amendments which have led to the undermining of this country’s reputation and is hampering business.” – PSC Secretary, Ramesh Dookhoo

Dookhoo said: “That meeting was called by the PSC in yet another attempt to help broker a compromise between the Government and the Opposition to see passage of the AML/CFT (Amendment) Bill through Parliament.
“The meeting was well received by President Ramotar. He pledged his commitment to preventing Guyana from being blacklisted by FATF (the Financial Action Task Force) and shared with us his many attempts to accommodate the Opposition’s demands. He reported to us that his administration has agreed to accept all amendments to the Bill from the Opposition in his attempt to compromise.”

NO COMPROMISE
The PSC Secretary noted his disappointment over the fact that no compromise was reached.
Both Opposition parties, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC), have linked conditionalities to their support for passage of the AML/CFT (Amendment) Bill.
APNU proposed three amendments, which were included in the Party’s draft amendments to the Principal AML/CFT Act, which President Donald Ramotar said would be supported by his Government if the Party would agree to pass the AML/CFT (Amendment) Bill. This was rejected.

“The Opposition squandered a good opportunity on several fronts. They could have gotten all their amendments included in the bill. They could have taken the lead in seeing their own amendments passed in Parliament. They could have preserved Guyana’s international reputation by passing the Bill.” – PSC Secretary, Ramesh Dookhoo

Additionally, APNU’s position is an ‘all-or-nothing’ one, as the Party maintains its demands not only for their Bill, but also restated its call on the President to give his assent to several Bills passed in the National Assembly, including the Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Bill 2013, which states that elections must be held on or before August 1, 2014. The Head of State has already forwarded his explanation for his non-assent to the National Assembly.
On the other hand, the AFC, which is fully behind APNU’s position, is demanding the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission (PPC), which the Government has agreed to, providing that Cabinet retains its no-objection role in the process; but the latter position has been rejected by the AFC. However, on May 29, 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.
Dookhoo said: “The President accompanied by the Minister of Finance explained that he is willing to compromise as far as the Constitution allows, but the demands being made by the Opposition is in breach of the Laws of Guyana and as a principled man who must lead by example, any compromise to be had must be done in a way that does not violate the Constitution.”

OWN BILL REJECTED
The PSC Secretary also commented on the fact that in rejecting the President’s offer to pass its amendments, APNU essentially rejected its own Bill.
“The Opposition squandered a good opportunity on several fronts. They could have gotten all their amendments included in the bill. They could have taken the lead in seeing their own amendments passed in Parliament. They could have preserved Guyana’s international reputation by passing the Bill,” he said.
Dookhoo added that the PSC’s members are already feeling the impacts of the negative pronouncements by the regulatory bodies.
Last November, the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) regionally blacklisted Guyana, over the country’s inability to meet the legislative requirements with the passage of the AML/CFT (Amendment) Bill. In February, the regional watchdog referred Guyana to FATF, which ended its five-day meeting yesterday.
“Our members within the PSC and even non-members in the business community are already feeling the negative impact of Guyana being blacklisted,” the PSC Secretary stressed.
He added that the Government and the Opposition have spent over a year compromising on amendments to the Bill, and even as President Ramotar promised to accept all of the Opposition’s amendments, APNU and AFC still have not moved to support their own amendments.
Dookhoo said: “We, in the Private sector do not understand why they would have done that. When this Bill was first tabled and referred to the Special Select Committee, the PSC was very optimistic that the final result would have been a much improved and higher quality bill, as was promised by the Opposition Leader.
“After hearing that the President’s offer was rejected we were disappointed and are left to now figure out their motives behind the non-cooperation to get the bill passed. Only the Opposition can tell us that.
“They owe the nation an explanation, certainly the PSC would like to hear their explanations as to why they did not support their own amendments which have led to the undermining of this country’s reputation and is hampering business.”
Government had repeated its willingness to have the Bill passed, and has demonstrated its commitment to same, but up to the last meeting of the Select Committee, remained locked in political gridlock with the combined Parliamentary Opposition.

(By Vanessa Narine)