Deputy Speaker, MP Ramjattan call for more support from the international community amidst border controversy

AS members of the National Assembly on Monday rose to support a motion for the House to reaffirm Guyana’s recognition and acceptance of the 1899 Arbitral Award as a full, perfect and final settlement of the boundary between Guyana and Venezuela, several members called for the international community to speak up in this regard and show their support.
One such member was Deputy Speaker, Dr Asha Kissoon, who in her maiden address on a motion in the Assembly, said that the issue cannot go on and is one of urgency that should be treated as such.

“An issue such as this requires us to stand united and I must say that I am very happy to see that government and opposition are working together on this. We as the parliamentary joinder also lend our voices and our support,” she said.

Further, Dr. Kissoon expressed gratitude to international partners who have thus far added their voices to the matter in support of Guyana. She, however, used the opportunity to call on others to lend their voices as Guyana stands on the side of the Rule of Law.

“There is no time for silence. We require our international partners to speak out, to speak up and to support Guyana as we stand on the side of the law,” she said.
The Deputy Speaker added that Guyana will continue along the legal lines and will not back down on this matter.

Meanwhile, also calling on the international community to support Guyana was Leader of the Alliance for Change, Khemraj Ramjattan, who said that he hopes that the government with the support of the opposition will ensure that the diplomatic work that is done meets that target of ensuring that Guyana can garner the support of everyone in the world on this matter.
He added: “We are one step there almost because we have done the international Rule of Law method of carrying it to the International Court of Justice; that’s important and we must adhere to our treaties. We must adhere to the Rule of Law, international Rule of Law; we must adhere to territoriality as prescribed years ago.”
Ramjattan related that the Caribbean area or this zone will not be made one that will have conflict and confrontation, and as such urged members of the diplomatic corps who were present in the Assembly to give their wholehearted support to Guyana.

Further, he said that the kind of politics being played by the Venezuelan leadership is going to be disastrous for this region. He indicated that there is an element of concern as Venezuelan leaders are behaving extraordinarily irrational and noted that when rationality leaves, there can be problems that can violate the peace of this zone.
That, he said, cannot be allowed and it is for that reason that all members of the house stand united on the issue,
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“We are all here united and what more unity I see in this Assembly sitting here is the fact that we have the diplomatic corps. We have so many others with us appreciating that indeed there must not be any confrontation on that western border,” Ramjattan said.

Meanwhile, he told the House that he gives full support to the motion in the Assembly and will lend his support to any similar motion.