THE LEOPARD cannot change its spots, nor its nature, because it is a predatory animal; likewise the PNC, which has demonstrated this time and again through the corridors of this nation’s history. But despite the fact of this reality being proven repeatedly, even in instances where its own supporters have become victims of the entire Opposition construct – such as the recurrent imbroglios at their successive congresses, budget cuts that impede social development, and the non-passage of the AML/CFT Bill – et al, Guyanese are still allowing themselves to be fooled by the deceitful rhetoric of the joint Opposition and their partners in the media corps, NGO’s etcetera.

Today there is despair in the soul of the nation; that is, that section of Guyanese who recognise the strides that the country has been making, the upward mobility in their own lives and lifestyles, and the great but hitherto untapped potential Guyana possesses to propel this nation into a dynamo of progress under a PPP/C administration: The reason for this despair is that this country would seemingly forever be burdened by the albatross of the successive anti-nationalistic, destructive, unpatriotic opposition  configurations that – in a continuum of anti-developmental, unpatriotic actions and rhetoric, would forever be the extant impediment to individual and national social development and economic growth. And currently one of the primary concerns is the passage of the AML/CFT Bill, with the nation being held to ransom by the joint Opposition.

The amendment the opposition proposes seeks to give Police and customs officers the power to seize currency of over $2M (US$10,000) in cash, cheques or value, such as money orders, jewelry, gold, bills of exchange, negotiable instruments, precious metals and gems, etcetera, and arrest persons if it is suspected that it is the proceeds of money laundering.

These officers would also be vested with the powers to invade homes and business places, at any hour, to ransack private spaces for what would then be contraband; as in the good old days of yore under PNC administration, when almost every householder became a criminal under the PNC’s Draconian rule.

Then also the question of the integrity of mandated officers is in doubt, and numerous incidences abound – of monies, jewelry and other items seized by law enforcement and customs officers with only partial, or in some instances non-delivery of these items to designated authorities; the time-consuming, frustrating, expensive process of recovery, most often through the courts by the legitimate owner and/or legal authority will frustrate the process into extinction.

This does not take into consideration the dangers posed to home owners and private entrepreneurs, and among the plethora of instances when bandits, pretending to represent a legal entity, force entry into premises then proceed to rob, injure and even kill their victims. One can recall the brutal death of Frank Persaud of Bel Air, who was forced to open his warehouse to bandits posing as Customs officers, only to be killed and robbed.

Alternatively, Opposition’s non-support of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Bill would mean blacklisting by FATF, which will lead to, inter alia, developmental and charitable loans and grants drying up; banking internationally will be impossible; money transfers will freeze; many will lose jobs, as industries will close or minimize operations, among other consequences no less deleterious to the national economy and Guyanese welfare and well-being. The combined parliamentary Opposition’s grandstanding and blackmail for irrational demands to be met has stymied the passage of the amended Bill which currently sits in a Special Parliamentary Select Committee.

While Nero fiddled, Rome was engulfed in flames that destroyed a great empire; likewise Guyana is inexorably facing severe retrogression in its developmental charts: So will the old wine in the old wine bottle – the PNC must stop its gerrymandering and finally put the nation first, accept Government’s continual reaching out for good-faith consensual positions for national development and economic growth. Only time and unfolding events will tell; albeit the nation has lost hope that this particular leopard will change its natural propensities and disposition for predatory behaviour.