THE combined Opposition’s rejection of President Donald Ramotar’s invitation for dialogue, an opportunity presented following the November 10 prorogation of Parliament, is an evident about-turn from its previously held position on the importance of dialogue.And now its earlier held positions are being dubbed as “opportunistic and political rhetoric” by the Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall.
“Frequently, we are bombarded with public declarations from the combined Opposition in relation to how critical dialogue and consensus building are to our democracy and good governance,” he pointed out in an interview with the Guyana Chronicle.
Nandlall added , “I have repeatedly emphasised that these declarations are simply opportunistic and political rhetoric, because whenever the opportunity is presented to the Opposition, they do everything possible to derail and destroy attempts by the Government to engage them in such constructive interactions.”
CLEAR EXAMPLES
The Attorney-General was emphatic that evidence of positions taken by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) is a matter of public record.
He said, “Recall Government’s attempt to engage them in Budget consultations over the last three years. They either failed to respond or to even attend scheduled meetings, or when they do, they make demands which they know the Government cannot accept. For example, unsustainable salary increases for workers or the lowering of the VAT to unacceptable levels. These are simply designed to fool the population by appealing to simplistic public sentiments.”
Nandlall added that another “stand-out” example is in the engagements on the critically important Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) (Amendment) Bill, which is currently with the Parliamentary Special Select Committee;
He said, “Attempts were made by the Government to meet a compromise in relation to the AML/CFT Bill.
“Firstly, the Opposition put forward a set of amendments, which CFATF (Caribbean Financial Action Task Force) deemed unacceptable and which according to CFATF, would make us non-compliant with a whole host of other requirements. This was told to them by personnel of CFATF whom the Government brought to Guyana for that purpose. Yet they insisted on their unreasonable demands.
“Even when, at the last moment, the Government conceded and offered to support their amendments, they rejected that offer. In effect adopting the absurd position of rejecting their own amendments.”
The Attorney-General underscored the fact that the Opposition’s position changed at that point by including a whole host of other demands, relative to Presidential assent to “unconstitutional” Bills, Local Government Elections, and the Public Procurement Commission, among others.
“All of those (demands) are absolutely irrelevant to the AML/CFT Bill. This was yet another deliberate attempt to thwart constructive engagement and dialogue,” he said, “There are many other instances which I can cite to demonstrate the Opposition’s persistent and consistent rejection of dialogue and constructive engagement.”
A MATTER OF CONTEXT
According to him, this rejection of President’s November 18 invitation, via a letter, for talks can be viewed against this backdrop – the persistent and consistent rejection of dialogue and constructive engagement.
Nandlall said, “I predicted this on November 10th on a television programme. I said that the nation will see whether the joint Opposition is serious about dialogue or whether they will grandstand once again.
“In fact, I predicted that they will reject the offer by the President for constructive engagement. They did. Their unreasonable demand is that there will be no dialogue until Parliament resumes.”
The move to prorogation was in face of the AFC sponsored no-confidence motion and the Attorney-General underscored the fact that there has been no “concrete” indication from the two Opposition parties whether this is still on the agenda.
“They refused to indicate that they will remove the no-confidence motion off the Parliamentary agenda, telling the public by clear implication, that they want Parliament to resume so that they can pass the no-confidence motion and defeat the Government. Clearly, no sensible Government will proceed along this route.”
The effect of ending the first session of the 10th Parliament via prorogation is the termination of the business of the National Assembly. As a result the AFC’s motion was not considered. President Ramotar, in making his decision, made it clear that prorogation would allow political parties to engage in dialogue to move past the current political impasse.
Nandlall said, “They have rejected dialogue as a viable political option. In short, they have demonstrated to the Guyanese people, once again, that they are not interested in any form of constructive engagement and therefore people must be smart enough to recognize the falsity when they make pronouncements on dialogue and consensus building.”
The AG bemoaned the combined Opposition’s “only way” approach.
He said, “Their approach is “our way only.” Engrained in this approach are dictatorial and authoritarian tendencies, concepts which we know from the basis of their politics. Rigged elections for 28 years remain an outstanding testimony to this type of politics. Nothing has changed.”
Nandlall contends that a responsible Opposition would have grabbed at the opportunity offered by the President in order to ensure that they make demands. which would inure to the benefit of Guyana and the Guyanese people.
“For example, discussing the 2015 Budget and passing of Bills that are vital to the welfare of our country,” he said.
Paving the way for greater dialogue among political parties, the President has repeated, would have kept the 10th Parliament alive to address critically important issues currently before the National Assembly.
Some of these matters include The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) (Amendment) Bill, which is currently with the Parliamentary Special Select Committee; and the second reading of the Education Bill 2014, the Land Surveyors Bill 2014, and the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill 2014.Also among the Bills scheduled for a first reading are the Food Safety Bill 2014, and the Motor Vehicles Insurance (Third Party Risks) (Amendment) Bill 2014. Other important matters before the National Assembly include the appointment of Members to the Rights of the Child Commission (ROC) and the Women and Gender Equality Commission.
“The truth is they simply wanted to flex their egotistical muscle by using the Constitutional mechanism of the no-confidence motion to bring down the Government.” the Attorney-General concluded.