The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) says it fully supports Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee, despite the motion of no confidence that was passed against him in the National Assembly last Monday.
The party in a statement on Saturday also denounced the motion and criticised Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman stating that he “is showing great incompetence in that office”.
It also accused the Opposition of being responsible for the Linden protests which sparked the vote of no confidence.
According to the PPP, the motion was improperly tabled and should not have been taken to the House, adding that its passage “is a further testimony to the sad deterioration that has taken place in the National Assembly, since the speakership changed hands”.
The PPP said that the Opposition, which holds a one-seat majority in Parliament, has misused Parliament,” constantly colliding with democratic norms and practices”.
The party laid blame on the Opposition for the current Linden protests, stating that the events in the mining town have been “organised and orchestrated” by the APNU and the AFC.
The ruling party argued that the situation at Linden centres on the Opposition’s insistence that Lindeners should not pay an increased electricity rate.
It said that the Opposition had also slashed the budgetary allocation in this year’s budget for the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) by more than $1B noting that the subsidy for the power company was designed to cushion increased generation costs as well as to prevent tariffs being increased for GPL’s customers.
It was stated by the PPP that the protests in Linden were hijacked by the Opposition and resulted in demonstrators being unruly, threatening a breakdown of law and order in the township.
The party stated that rather than awaiting the outcome of a Commission of Inquiry into the matter, the Opposition moved the motion, demanding that President Donald Ramotar relieve Rohee of the post.
It said that the motion pre-empts the Commission’s decision.
