WHILE pointing out the civil and courteous nature of Guyanese, Minister of State Joseph Harmon has put the opposition on notice that the populace will not be redefined by its behaviour.

Minister Harmon was at the time addressing members of the media at a post-Cabinet briefing on Friday at the Ministry of the Presidency.
He said that while the opposition may have attempted to make President David Granger’s address on Thursday to be inaudible, booklets on the information presented by the Guyanese head of state were already in circulation in Parliament prior to his address.
He recalled that in May 2015, following the general and regional elections, there was a “swelling” of national pride.

“We have to protect and we want to ensure our national institutions and national leaders are given that level of civility and courtesy in public life,” Harmon noted.
He said the type of behaviour such as that displayed by the opposition on Thursday should not be allowed in Parliament to “re-define who we are, who [we] are as a people.”
He said it was unfortunate that in his view and those of his colleagues in government that the behaviour by the opposition represented a significant departure from legitimate protest, even as he pointed out that protest actions are legal.
He said it was not a proper forum for the behaviour displayed, as he pointed out that persons were invited to Parliament for the President’s address.
Minister Harmon called on the opposition and all concerned to work together, to recognise civility and not “tear down national institutions and bring disrespect and disregard to such institutions.”

Similarly, the Alliance For Change (AFC) objected strongly to what it described as “vulgar” un-parliamentary behaviour by the PPP while President Granger addressed the House. In a statement, Friday, the party said the disruptive behaviour violated the Standing Orders and marked a descent into chaos.

The statement noted that it was the first time that “such gross disrespect was extended to a sitting President while he was addressing the Parliament and his citizens at large.”
“Of concern also was the disrespect shown to the highest members of the diplomatic community, representatives of regional and international organisations, members of the judiciary and other invited guests. It is clear that such uncouth behaviour in recent times has come to define the leader and members of the opposition who shamelessly embarrassed themselves and Guyana to the world.”

The party said it recognises the opposition’s right to protest, but finds the screaming and shouting in the Parliament Chambers“totally unacceptable,” while noting that the “tirade could not qualify as free speech that is protected by parliamentary privilege.”
On Thursday, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo slammed the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) for what he described as “disgraceful, awful and disgusting” behaviour during the opening session of the 71st Sitting of the 11th Parliament.

The opposition from all indications was protesting the President’s appointment of Justice James Patterson to the post of Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
The placards borne by Opposition Leader and former President Bharrat Jagdeo and his team, alleged that the coalition government by its appointment of Justice Patterson will rig the 2020 general elections.

Persons in the public domain pointed to the glaring spelling errors on some placards, including one which Jagdeo held up in protest Thursday.

But the PPP, notwithstanding the backlash from Thursday’s protest, remains resolute that there was no intention to tear down national institutions or bring disrespect to same. The party said the protest served to highlight what it believes to be “an egregious breach of the constitution by President David Granger, in unilaterally and illegally appointing a GECOM Chairman.”

“The PPP maintains that the protest actions were deemed to be the adequate response to highlight to Guyanese, as well as to the international community, the seriousness of the President’s unconstitutional action,” the party said in response to Harmon’s contention.