THE fact that President Donald Ramotar has  taken the unprecedented  measure of addressing  the National Assembly, via written correspondence, on the urgency of  finalising the passage of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Bills, underlines the critical importance of a matter that is in the category of a national emergency.

It is certain that mainstream Guyanese following the daily parliamentary events surrounding the necessity of this bill’s acceptance are indeed hoping for an immediate resolution. For they have more than a layman’s grasp and understanding as to the grave consequences which they, hitherto the entire nation, will encounter, failing the deadline of the  parliamentary green light.
No self-respecting Guyanese and patriot will be comfortable with their country being listed as not having cooperated, and not in sufficient agreement, with international rules. It is a slap in the face of a country where much has been done to restore its international image since 1992.  But such a situation will be avoided if both the A Partnership For National Unity (APNU) and  the Alliance For Change(AFC) parties rise above partisan politics. If they do not, then the following consequences will befall the country which they claim to love, and its citizens whose best interests, to which they seem indifferent.
*Guyana, as a place for doing business, will be placed on a watch list. The country will be downgraded as a state in which financial transactions must be carefully scrutinised.
*Investing in Guyana will be affected, since the source of the money will be scrutinised. The same applies to local businesses, banking institutions and their financial transactions with international financial agencies.
*Citizens will be severely affected by the definite delay that will occur when receiving money from overseas.  There will even be problems with the very popular buying of items via the internet.
Against this background, one must query the patriotism of both opposition parties.