…Gov’t to ask police to investigate opposition intelligence-gathering tactics

THE Guyana Police Force (GPF) could soon be asked to investigate the intelligence-gathering mechanisms employed by the Parliamentary Opposition–the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), according to State Minister Joseph Harmon.

Leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo said that based on intelligence received by the PPP/C, the government has considered six options that it will explore in an effort to reverse the no-confidence motion, which was ‘passed’ in the National Assembly following the controversial vote of its then Member of Parliament Charrandas Persaud.

Outside of Freedom House on Thursday, Jagdeo told reporters that the six options include: 34 to 31 being the new majority; that once committed to a political party, a sitting Member of Parliament cannot vote against its list or party; return to Parliament, replace Persaud and move a new motion to reverse the December 23, 2018 decision of the House; challenge the outcome of the motion on the basis of citizenship; approach the Speaker of the National Assembly Dr. Barton Scotland, for a revision of the ruling on the motion; and or have an individual file a motion making the Speaker and the Attorney General the respondents, who in turn will concede to a judgment that something illegal took place.

In response, Minister Harmon, on the sideline of the swearing in ceremony for Mayors and Deputy Mayors at the Ministry of the Presidency on Friday, said that the Opposition’s technique of gathering information should be placed under the microscope. “I will really ask the police to examine carefully whether, in fact, this is a legal intercept of telephone conversations or not, and so, since Mr. Jagdeo says that he has all this intelligence then he would need to explain really what is this intelligence that he is getting,” the State Minister told the Guyana Chronicle.

Jagdeo, while as President, had assented to the controversial Interception of Telecommunication Bill 2008, paving the way for wiretapping to be done in the country. The Interception of Telecommunication Act allows the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to engage in the interception of communications, the acquisition and disclosure of data relating to communications and the acquisition of means by which protected communication may be accessed and placed in an intelligible form and for connected purposes.

That aside, Harmon said the positions or perceived options put forward by the Opposition Leader are his ideas and do not reflect the position of the Government. “The Government, we have our own position,” he told this newspaper.

USING THE COURTS
Reminding that the country has a hierarchy of courts, the State Minister said the Opposition has never shied away from turning to the judiciary, and should not be afraid to have the matter of the no-confidence motion settled at the level of the court.
“PPP has not been shy in approaching the courts whenever they feel that there is something that is wrong…So I don’t see why they should be afraid…that, that is an option which we may exercise if it becomes necessary,” Minister Harmon said.

He also rubbished calls by the Leader of the Opposition for the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) Government to resign on the basis that the no-confidence motion against it was “carried” at the end of the Friday December 23, 2018 sitting of the National Assembly.

“I think Mr. Jagdeo is hallucinating. He is attempting to detract from the madness that is taking place in his party, trying to find a presidential candidate that he is comfortable with. He is trying to deflect the public’s scrutiny of what is going on there,” Minister Harmon said.

He said it is time that Jagdeo comes to grip with the reality that he is no longer in Government, and now sits on the opposing side of the House. “He has had two and a half terms (in Government) and the Guyanese people have said that that is enough. The Guyanese people have elected us to govern this country and we will do so without fear or favour, affection or ill will…So that there is no statement made by him that is going to push us into any direction, that says we should stop executing the mandate of the people of this country.

“Mr. Jagdeo must understand that he is not the president, he is not the Government, he is the Opposition and that is where he is, and he is condemned to be opposition for a long time because the people of this country has had enough for his type of leadership, that sort of dictatorship which he is accustom to exercising,” the State Minister said.
He maintained that his government has brought about greater democracy in Guyana since taking office in May, 2015 and the hosting of Local Government Elections (LGEs), twice, since then as constitutionally required, is an excellent example.