Dear Editor,
Our people voted for strict financial and democratic accountability in the November 28 general elections. We want our opposition parliamentarians to demonstrate, without fear or favour, the will of the electorate. The 51% of the electorate which voted for the APNU and the AFC are fully behind this type of scrutiny. We do not expect less than that. No one is surprised that the PPP minority regime will try and blame the combined opposition for not being patriotic, but that is fine – we understand their antics.
We are not little children; we know now that the country’s finances will be properly accounted for and that is what matters. No more underhand dealings and no more bullying.
The opposition forces in and out of parliament need to regularly inform the public about what is going on in Parliament. Citizens should be able to see all the proceedings in our parliament, and this defence put up by Gail Teixeira, that we cannot afford this luxury is complete and absolute rubbish.In little Trinidad and Tobago, which I have just visited, its citizens are able to see all the debates in their parliament free of cost.
We, the opposition, now have real power in parliament and we must quickly put several bills in parliament to completely democratize our country and bring relief to our people, who have suffered tremendously under these petty dictators. We cannot rely on the PPP minority regime to draft Bills that have to go to the parliament on our behalf, as suggested by Khemraj Ramjattan of the AFC some months ago. We have to train a team of lawyers to do this job and seek outside funding if necessary.
We must behave like a scout and ‘be prepared‘ for any eventuality. People will support a vibrant opposition when it acts entirely in their interest. Come what may, things must never be the same again in Guyana. Those who cannot bear the heat in the kitchen must go.
Yours faithfully,
Jinnah Rahman
