Dear Editor,
There is one bright spot in Guyana’s political and law-making system that must be fought for – our Parliament. The Speaker, Mr Raphael Trotman must have his grip firmly planted on Parliament if this institution is to function properly and be respected by the minority PPP regime. After all, as Speaker, he must exert his authority and influence over those elements whose primary goal is to make Parliament a rubber stamp because they have lost control of this noble institution. The separation of powers as imbedded in the constitution makes Parliament an independent and supreme law-making institution and no one, neither the PPP nor APNU should be allowed to destroy it. We know for a fact that the PPP, starting with Janet Jagan has ignored the decision of the High Court and now they have turned their power on Parliament.
The alleged illegal spending by the Minister of Finance, Mr Ashni Singh of some $4.6 billion that was not approved by Parliament has to be addressed both in the court and in Parliament. Misconduct in public office is a common law offence. As a trustee of the people if the offender spent this money without the approval of the people’s Parliament, then his action must be seen as contempt by the minority PPP regime. This behaviour is not new, for the corrupt PPP regime has destroyed every moral value and every monitoring institution in Guyana. There is no proper Integrity Commission and no Procurement Commission, just to name two.
The surreptitious attempt by the minority PPP regime to spend tax dollars that were not authorized by Parliament must be exposed for what it is — a malicious attack upon the integrity of the Parliament and if again Minister Singh is allowed to get away with this transgression, then the Parliament would have lost its purpose and should be deemed nothing else but a talk shop rather than an essential ingredient in the triumvirate of state power.
So the Chief Justice’s ruling as Ralph Ramkarran clearly elucidated has preserved the power of the National Assembly to “approve or not approve” the estimates. The opposition cannot cut, but they can disapprove estimates in the budget and if disapproval is issued then the legal vehicle left to the Minister is to present Supplemental Estimates at a later date with the hope that the majority will grant approval. What is clear is that the Minister does not have the authority to spend a dime unless the circumstances are deemed as urgent, unforeseen or unavoidable, such as expenditure on floods and national catastrophes. Granting funds that were not approved by Parliament to NCN, GINA and the Office of the President cannot be deemed as a national catastrophe and as such the Minister has failed to discharge his duties to the people.
So what next? Mr Carl Greenidge has spoken and is that it? Will another year pass and another abuse of the financial regulations happen and we will continue to talk? Last year when an abuse occurred, the APNU and the AFC did say they would sanction the Minister and bring him in front of the Privileges Committee, but as we recognized it was all hot air, since nothing has happened and the Minister is now emboldened to spend not $1 billion as he did last year, but $4.6 billion.
Will we see the Minister spending over $10 billion outside the budget in 2015? We call on both opposition parties to stop their foolish talk and take action against the Minister and by extension, the PPP minority regime. They must pass a vote of no confidence against Dr Ashni Singh and prevent him from speaking in Parliament.
This is the time for the Speaker to act forcefully against the PPP in order to protect and preserve the institution he now presides over. Can he? On one occasion we have observed where the Speaker of the National Assembly accommodated Mr Rohee who received a “no confidence” vote from the majority opposition. On another, the Speaker has allowed Ms Priya Manickchand to speak despite her refusal to apologize for her rude remarks against the Deputy Leader of the Justice for all Party, Mr Jaipaul Sharma. We condemn the Speaker for compromising with the regime that wants all or nothing for themselves and nothing for the majority opposition.
The opposition must stop the PPP from trampling on the rights of the people, and it is their duty to act swiftly on the financial transgression by the minority PPP regime so that further financial injury is not inflicted on this nation.
Yours faithfully,
Asquith Rose
Harish Singh
