GOVERNMENT continues to voice its disapproval over the manner in which Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr. Raphael Trotman, and Leader of the Opposition, Mr. David Granger, are conducting parliamentary proceedings. Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall is of the view that the insistence of the Opposition and the Speaker of the National Assembly on going ahead with the composition of the parliamentary committees, in light of ongoing court proceedings, is highly objectionable.
The Attorney General explained that the court has not issued an order, neither did the motion filed ask for one, to restrain the Speaker or the Opposition from constituting the parliamentary committees.
“There is no order prohibiting them from constituting the nine-member committees; however comity amongst and between the branches of government would suggest that one would defer to the other…you have a position where the matter is in the court…this precise issue is before the court and the arguments have commenced….yet the Speaker and the Leader of the Opposition are moving at breakneck speed, and in complete disregard of the court’s process and the fact that government has sought the court’s guidance on this precise issue,” the Attorney General said.
The Attorney General further explained that government will have to decide what approach it will take if the Opposition continues to violate every tradition and convention known to parliamentary practice.
“Whenever the standing orders do not suit the agenda of the Opposition, they are displaying a proclivity to use their majority to change the standing orders…I do not know how long we can continue down this path; but it is quite unprecedented in Commonwealth Parliamentary practice,” the Attorney General said.
Guyana is a part of the British Commonwealth which has evolved parliamentary conventions, traditions and practices that have developed over long number of years.
“ Parliaments around the British Commonwealth have faithfully upheld these traditions and practices…one of them is that a constitutional reform committee, if the parliament decides to establish one, would be chaired by the Attorney General of the country, as it is a technical legal committee and the Attorney General is the guardian of the Constitution,” Minister Nandlall said.
He said that the Constitutional Reform Committee has been constituted, and the Leader of the Opposition, a former soldier, is the chairman of that committee.
“This is in violation of every tradition in the British Commonwealth…they have gone ahead and made Mr. Granger, Chairman of a technical legal committee… there is no country in the world where a soldier heads a constitutional reform committee,” Minister Nandlall said.
The Attorney General explained that the court has not issued an order, neither did the motion filed ask for one, to restrain the Speaker or the Opposition from constituting the parliamentary committees.
“There is no order prohibiting them from constituting the nine-member committees; however comity amongst and between the branches of government would suggest that one would defer to the other…you have a position where the matter is in the court…this precise issue is before the court and the arguments have commenced….yet the Speaker and the Leader of the Opposition are moving at breakneck speed, and in complete disregard of the court’s process and the fact that government has sought the court’s guidance on this precise issue,” the Attorney General said.
The Attorney General further explained that government will have to decide what approach it will take if the Opposition continues to violate every tradition and convention known to parliamentary practice.
“Whenever the standing orders do not suit the agenda of the Opposition, they are displaying a proclivity to use their majority to change the standing orders…I do not know how long we can continue down this path; but it is quite unprecedented in Commonwealth Parliamentary practice,” the Attorney General said.
Guyana is a part of the British Commonwealth which has evolved parliamentary conventions, traditions and practices that have developed over long number of years.
“ Parliaments around the British Commonwealth have faithfully upheld these traditions and practices…one of them is that a constitutional reform committee, if the parliament decides to establish one, would be chaired by the Attorney General of the country, as it is a technical legal committee and the Attorney General is the guardian of the Constitution,” Minister Nandlall said.
He said that the Constitutional Reform Committee has been constituted, and the Leader of the Opposition, a former soldier, is the chairman of that committee.
“This is in violation of every tradition in the British Commonwealth…they have gone ahead and made Mr. Granger, Chairman of a technical legal committee… there is no country in the world where a soldier heads a constitutional reform committee,” Minister Nandlall said.
The PPP stands for the working people of Guyana. The party dictates were everyone in society must be treated equally; be it a doctor, lawyer, teacher and or a labourer including the sugar workers.
ReplyDeleteThis principle is based on the philosophy that no man can live alone by himself and of such; a doctor needs a tailor, a cook, a cleaning person and many other non-professionals for him to be able to perform his job with total efficiency. All should be treated equally, for no one is better than the other and each is dependent on the other to create conditions for everyone can live in harmony.
I heard through the grapevine from Guyana, yesterday that one of the reasons for the strike at the estates in Berbice, is that the workers are embittered with GUYSUCO for giving the Annual Production Incentive to the office employees only and not the field workers. I prayed that is not the case and hoped that is only rumours that are promulgated by Moses, Ramjattan and the AFC. I would like to know the facts of this situation before I can comment further. I haven’t had a response from the President’s Office as yet.
Dr. Luncheon reiterated yesterday that the opposition parties are intervening in the Berbice Sugar Estates. I am wondering, why don’t they try those tactics at the Demerara Estates? It seems that they want to penetrate in Region 6 by disrupting the peace and order, where the PPP, is generally strong and dominant. I think that Moses and the AFC motives of falsifying information onto the sugar workers and create dissatisfaction among them, am primarily to take a piece of that lucrative “pie”. I said it before; they shouldn’t be allowed to do so.
We shouldn’t forget what Gump, Balram Singh Rai and many more splinter groups did to Guyana; they helped delayed the process of true democracy and prolonged the sufferings by aligning with the PNC. That’s what Moses, Ramjattan and the AFC are going to do. They are going to be twined up with APNU and Granger. Beware my friends. We do not want to go back to those days.
Having worked in the sugar industry, I have a suggestion about the Annual Production Incentive (API). It should be named “Performance and Attendance” instead of API. The principles would be judged and conferred by GAWU and GUYSUCO and not by management alone.
This idea would transmute to some people that by keeping the factories running, would make it profitable for the workers, the industry and last but not least, the country. Try it, you and me and others may like it.
Granger has used his army position to try to manipulate the people. Prior to the election, he was Mr. nice guy; he gave the impressions that he cared about the country and its people; he never commented and criticized GECOM and the process, but after the elections, he organized his goons to disrupt the normality by going on the streets.
This didn’t go too well; he knew that the Police and Army wouldn’t and didn’t stand for his stupidly. He tried the “ropes”, but he wasn’t allowed to slide down.
Now, however, Trotman, Granger and APNU are trying to govern thru the back-door by having their gigs on the constitution. They damned well know that the chairman of the Constitutional Reform Commission has to be the Attorney General, and yet they went ahead and appoint Granger to be the chairman. This whole process is in the hands of the court. What they are saying, the results of the courts are irrelevant and they are bigger than the Judicial Body. Beware!