AT the opening of the 18th Biennial Congress of the People’s National Congress Reform, Chairman Mr. Basil Williams relished in, what he called, the achievements made by the Party during the Tenth Parliament.

In what could only be described as a ‘feral blast’ to the track run of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration, Williams pointed to the accomplishments of the Party in establishing its grounds in the legislature for the period 2012-2014 following the results of the 2011 General and Regional Elections.
Among these, Williams cited the Opposition’s non- support of the AML/CFT since “APNU refused to be railroaded into passing the AML/CFT Bill without the APNU amendments being adopted by the Government.” Further he stated that this decision was compounded by the President’s refusal to assent to previous bills put forward and passed by the Opposition.
The Chairman lashed out and expressed his discontent with the position of the President in refusing to “assent to Bills passed by a majority of the House because they were Opposition initiated Bills.”
Williams similarly noted that the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) along with the Alliance For Change (AFC) have met challenges in reconfiguring the various committees to reflect the one-seat majority in the House, determined by the 2011 General Elections.
“APNU has been confronting the challenges to assert the independence of the Parliament, and its authority and to prevent domination of it by the minority government,” Williams said.
And he noted that the APNU has managed to bring the Ministers of the Government into further accountability through questioning by members of the Opposition in the National Assembly. “APNU has forced the government to acknowledge the importance of transparency and accountability in the financial and other affairs of the state,” Williams contended.
He added: “APNU has been in the forefront of seeking a living wage for our workers and better conditions of work.”
He reckoned that the APNU provided legal representation to the people of Linden during the Linden Commission of Inquiry into the deaths of three Lindeners and injuries to others by ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) on July 18, 2012.
The PNCR Chairman accused the current administration of engaging in “demagoguery” and fear mongering in attempting to distort the history of Founder Leader of the PNC, Mr. Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham.
On that note, he called out the ongoing Commission of Inquiry into the death of Dr. Walter Rodney, which resumes on Monday, as a “malevolent attack” against the former leader and “other functionaries who held the reins of Government 34 years ago in Guyana.”
Conclusively, Williams stated that since the Party became a major partner in APNU, eventually reducing the PPP/C to a minority Government at the 2011 General and Regional Elections, “we undertook transforming the way Guyana had been governed for the previous 20 years.”
“It is apposite to note that on the occasion of this 18th Biennial Delegates Congress, we have now reached the “turning point.” It is up to this Congress to determine whether we will make the right turn.”

(By Derwayne Wills)