–say gov’t ministers; move seen as a game of ‘knock-fuh-knock-back’

SEVERAL Ministers of the Government have contended that the no-confidence motions brought against their colleague ministers of Health and Home Affairs are nothing short of a ‘knock-fuh-knock-back’ scenario.
Appearing on a ‘Parliamentary Agenda’ programme aired on the National Communications Network (NCN) on Wednesday night, Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton; Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond; and Junior Minister of Housing and Water, Susanne Rodrigues, reiterated their government’s confidence in Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony, and Home Affairs Minister, Robeson Benn.

Minister Walrond, an attorney-at-law, has insisted that the motions, which accused the two ministers of mismanaging their respective sectors, have no basis. She went further to flay Opposition Leader, Joseph Harmon, also a lawyer, for compiling a legal challenge that has “no grounds”.
“It is just theatrics,” Walrond maintained. She explained that when the PPP/C submitted its No-Confidence Motion against the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) in 2018, the submission was comprehensive, and based on the grievances of the Guyanese people.
This, she posited, is not the case with Harmon’s motion against ministers Anthony and Benn, since it contained no grounds or evidence on which the no-confidence can be attributed. “It speaks to a disregard for our systems [and] our people,” Walrond said.
She believes that both ministers Benn and Anthony have the evidence of their work to defend them, should the motion come up for debate. “Our colleagues have the full confidence of the government,” Walrond noted.

She also used the forum to call on supporters of the APNU+AFC to examine the “incompetent” manner in which the opposition goes about its business.
Meanwhile, her colleague, Minister Hamilton believes that the motions were a response to the Government’s efforts to successfully remove David Patterson as Chairman of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
“A couple of weeks ago, we brought a No-Confidence Motion against one David Patterson, which was successful; I am of the view that what you have here is, ‘they knock us, let us knock them back’,” Hamilton said.
He insisted that although the motion has been filed, it has no place to go. “But as comedic as it is, it is serious, in the sense that they are paid substantial salaries and benefits by the State [to represent their constituency], but when you look at the deliverables, where is the value for the money? When they criticise, what do they bring to the table?” Hamilton queried.

NON-STARTER

Similar sentiments were shared by Minister within the Ministry of Housing, Susanne Rodrigues, who projected the failure of both motions.
“We already know, and it has been demonstrated. It has been established that the Opposition has a problem with mathematics, and they do not have the numbers in the National Assembly to pass these motions; these motions are doomed already,” Minister Rodrigues told the programme’s host, Mark Watson.
She pointed to the fact that a No-Confidence Motion is not the method that can be used to remove a sitting minister of the government, especially a minister who enjoys the confidence of the President and the members of his Cabinet.
“There is the recall legislation that you use, and a Member of Parliament can only be removed if he is deceased, or incapacitated, or mentally unstable, or the leader of the list of the party he represents loses confidence in him or her. And in this case, that is the President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali,” Rodrigues explained.

She also joined the list of government officials who have deemed the motion to be not only laughable, but lacking in basic substance. “There is no reference in the motion to any statistical data, facts, or circumstances,” Minister Rodrigues highlighted.
She is of the belief that Harmon and the APNU+AFC “lack [the] understanding of what a no-confidence motion is intended to do.”
“The motion is a none-starter,” Rodrigues argued.
Meanwhile, an audio recording, purported to be that of a senior member of the former APNU+AFC government, has surfaced, critiquing the motions.

“There is nothing in the Constitution that says that a no-confidence motion can be passed against a minister, and that if it passes, then he has to leave the Parliament; there is nothing that says that,” the former APNU+AFC parliamentarian related.
“It is meaningless if you pass a motion of no-confidence in Benn and in Anthony; it means nothing. They will continue being ministers,” the former government official related.
Only recently, President Irfaan Ali reaffirmed his government’s support for ministers Benn and Anthony, who, he said, have been doing good work. As a matter of fact, both ministers have indicated their eagerness to highlight their one-year accomplishments, if the motion is allowed to be debated.