…tells Nascimento to be ‘quiet’

AMID the political fallout over the validity of the no-confidence motion, the Private Sector Commission (PSC), while criticising the government, has called for the President to set an early date for National and Regional Elections, but its Secretary, Komal Singh, has cautioned the commission’s executive about its overreach.

In a letter to the executive body earlier this week, which this newspaper was able to obtain, Singh said over the last month, the PSC “exposed itself and its members to a charade of negative comments from the public,” explaining that the commission’s relationship with government and the opposition has been questioned not just on one, but on several occasions. Singh said while it is important for the PSC to hold the country’s leaders accountable for actions that will have negative impacts on the commercial sector, it is critical for the commission to maintain amicable relationships with the leaders.

“With that in mind, the PSC and its members need to be mindful of how we deal with certain situations, especially when it has to do with politics,” he cautioned the executives.
He added: “I firmly believe that with immediate effect and until further notice no sub-committee or any member or the EMC alone should address any issue that have to deal with the current political climate by themselves.”

According to him, all political issues should now go to the full council before a decision is made to address any matter relating to the current impasse.

DOUBLE STANDARDS
“While I do agree 100 per cent that we have a responsibility to make sure our leaders follow the constitution of this country, it is not within our mandate to be the leaders to make sure this happens. Our role (is) to continue to be impartial,” Singh told his colleagues.

“We have not been the leader in the past when we had constitutional breach, so why should we be the leader now? I am sure there was a very good reason in the past why the PSC was never so vocal,” the secretary reasoned.

He said if members of the commission are interested in preserving the PSC as an engine of growth, they should, instead, lobby government for a better business environment.
At the conclusion of his letter, Singh singled out Kit Nascimento. “Kit, I do not support your position and I urge you (to) desist from doing so unless you get full council approval,” Singh said.

Nascimento has been engaged in the very practice the PSC secretary has warned against. In his most recent statement, Nascimento launched an attack on President David Granger and his administration. According to him, the government, since the December 21 vote of no-confidence, has continuously ignored the Constitution. “In fact, our President has placed his government in a position of grievously violating the Constitutional provisions of Articles 106 (6) and has signaled a similar intention with regard to Article 106 (7) to function outside of the country’s supreme law which he swore to uphold,” Nascimento stated.

Nascimento said while he and President Granger share “a long and valued friendship,” the government’s behaviour, with regard to the effect of the no-confidence motion respecting his Cabinet and government, is unacceptable.

He opined that calling for respect of the Constitution was well within the mandate of the PSC to ensure stability and well-being of the business community.

President Granger and his ministers have long maintained that the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) government is not in violation of the Constitution.

Speaking on the issue some weeks ago, President Granger said his government was elected to office, and remains legitimate. “The Speaker has spoken, and we respect the Speaker, and we also have spoken. We met with the opposition, and we agreed that the National Assembly has work to do. I have not dissolved Parliament, neither have I resigned. There is no such thing as an interim government or caretaker government. According to the Constitution, I remain President, until the next president is sworn in,” the Head of State said.

While Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire has upheld the decision of the Speaker of the National Assembly that the motion was validly passed, the government has appealed her decision. The matter is now engaging the attention of the appellate court.