The PPP has accused the parliamentary opposition of betraying the victims of crime, following their walkout from parliament in protest at the government’s refusal to consider amendments to the stakeholders’ anti-crime pact.
“The walkout is a betrayal of the victims of crimes in our society,” the ruling party charged in a press release, adding that the walkout by the parliamentary opposition was a violation of the agreement reached by broad consensus. The PPP noted that the opposition parties in Parliament in trying to justify their walkout on March 27 during the debate on the motion moved by the Prime Minister on the stakeholders meeting had stated that the PPP/C had refused to accept their amendments.
However, the PPP said it had to set the record straight and pointed out that the motion presented in the National Assembly “was not a PPP or government document but the product of four meetings (February 19, 20, 27 and March 12) involving the government, opposition parties in Parliament and civil society. These documents were signed by 51 organizations.”
“The PPP/C was of the view that we did not have the mandate to change that document as what we did was to faithfully reproduce what was agreed to,” the party maintained.
It also contended that the parliamentary opposition parties had the document in their possession for almost two weeks before the sitting of March 27. And they proposed amendments late in the evening of March 26, the PPP observed, when it was practically impossible to contact all those who had signed the document to seek their agreement for the proposed amendments.
According to the PPP, the walkout could not be interpreted as building confidence and indeed it was clearly an act designed to undermine confidence. “It has certainly sent wrong signals to the murderous band that cold bloodedly killed 25 persons in Lusignan and Bartica,” the PPP declared. In that light, the PPP called “on all peace-loving and democratically-minded Guyanese to condemn the PNCR, AFC and GAP/ROAR for their walkout of the Parliament.”
The general public should know, the release added, that one part of the agreement stated that all the signatories to the agreement should “…initiate and support confidence building measures in the society at large and amongst communities and organizations in order to continue to move the country forward.”
The PNCR-1G, AFC and GAP-ROAR have since reaffirmed their commitment to the agreements of the joint stakeholders’ forum while noting that the rejection of the amendments by the government side had created doubts about the seriousness of the ruling party in implementing the recommendations.
The stakeholders who met with President Bharrat Jagdeo in the wake of the two massacres at Lusignan and Bartica included religious organizations, private sector groups, a range of NGOs, and the parliamentary parties.
Meanwhile, the PPP said it was amused at the charges of the opposition about the lack of parliamentary democracy, noting that the statement by the AFC recently and also by the PNCR reflected “an ingrained bias and a total lack of objectivity.”
The PPP observed that the motion that the opposition walked out on called for all to work “…with the Government and all Parliamentary political parties to jointly review the national security plan for its urgent and comprehensive implementation with the ultimate goal of cementing inclusive democracy, peace and justice in our country…”
The PPP said further that the agreement reached envisaged that a parliamentary committee on National Security would be established. It also made clear that civil society would have the right to make presentations, recommendations, etc. to this body.
“They are all profoundly democratic proposals and actions on the part of the PPP/C which the opposition parties walked out on. Indeed the Guyanese people should ponder the real intentions of the opposition as it appears that they are intent on undermining democracy instead of promoting it,” the PPP asserted.
The PPP, meantime, met with the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on Tuesday and raised some of the problems that were being encountered in the current registration process. The main issues that were considered involved birth certificates and problems relating to names that people were using which differed from those on their birth certificates.
The meeting, according to the PPP, noted that the pace of registration appeared good and both parties were optimistic that the process would conclude on schedule. The parties also agreed to continue to look for solutions to the problems encountered during registration.
The party’s delegation was led by party secretary Donald Ramotar and included Dr Leslie Ramsammy, Ulric Ramanah and Zulficar Mustapha.
