-includes demands for living wage, local gov’t polls
The People’s Parliament has launched a campaign to petition the National Assembly for the creation of a national living wage, the lowering of the VAT, and the holding of overdue local government polls, among other things.
The petition, “Towards the people’s agenda,” is to be presented to the National Assembly after it reconvenes next week from the annual parliamentary recess that began in August.
“The petition calls on the elected Parliament to take action on a number of issues which we, who have put them in power, have been busy discussing for the last seven weeks while they have been on holiday,” the group says in a statement issued on Wednesday, while reiterating that failure to speak out in the face of the current state of affairs such atrocities is to be complicit.
From the public occupation of High Street and Brickdam, it says, participants in the movement have heard thousands of Guyanese express overwhelming disillusionment and disgust with the current state of affairs in the Guyanese society, including partisan politics that divide and ignore the voice of the ordinary person, leaders who fail to inspire but never fail to disappoint and a system that oppresses and disempowers the people.
“We bear witness to suffering by poor people of all racial and ethnic groups, from all over Guyana, and to the growing inequality between rich and poor. Most Guyanese are working far too long and hard for far too little wages, while others, because of their friends, family, and political connections, collect super salaries far beyond the service they provide to the nation. Meanwhile, the most vulnerable members of our society, beginning with our children, struggle to make ends meet and to live dignified, fulfilling lives. These are the stories we have heard day after day,” it notes.
As a result, the petition (available online at http://signon.org/sign/towards-the-peoples-agenda) calls for immediate action on eight areas:
1 Local government elections now as our constitutional right which no Parliament can defer or deny.
2. Establishment of all constitutional bodies, including the Ombudsman, the Public Procurement Commission, the Human Rights Commission and the Ethnic Relations Commission.
3. Re-constitution of the Integrity Commission and the introduction of anti-corruption legislation.
4. Repeal and re-enactment of the Access to Information Act and the Broadcasting Act.
5. Tax reform with a view towards the lowering of the Value-Added Tax (VAT) and a fairer distribution of the tax obligations of all Guyanese.
6. Investigations into state-owned media and more specifically NCN, NICIL, Clico and the NIS.
7. Establishment of a national living income for all Guyanese in all sectors, including humane pension and public assistance programs.
8. Establishment of a Financial and Fiscal Commission to oversee public spending and advise on tax policies and revenue collection and the allocation of monies to regions.
The group said in the petition that the country has been independent for 46 years and while there have been several amendments to the constitution, the aspirations of the people are unfulfilled.
“We have waited long enough. We bear witness, with dismay and horror, to the disregard of the state for the rights of citizens, including the increased use of deadly force by the police; to the continued reliance on an economic system which deprives the majority of our people the right to a decent standard of living; to a growing inequality in our society, to the corruption of people in public office,” it points out. “All around us is evidence of disregard for the sanctity of life demonstrated in the increase in the number of women murdered by their partners; the growing recourse to violence in the most casual disputes; the mayhem on our streets; the rise in suicides. All around us is the evidence of the grossly inadequate protection offered to the most vulnerable among us, the children, the elderly and the disabled,” it adds.
In addition, the group notes in its statement that it has also been discussing the epidemic of corruption in the society. “Under-resourced public services, the lack of a living wage, the curtailment of independent media, special treatment for the wealthy and politically connected, ineffective monitoring systems, lack of political will, information, transparency, or support for accountability, and intimidation by employers and agents of the state have combined to keep too many of us uninformed, fearful, and silent,” it says.
According to its statement, the Peoples Parliament intends to collect signatures from as many communities as possible to rally the Guyanese populace to reject the current state of affairs that exists. “In this petition, we the people of Guyana, are taking a stand against the injustice and inequalities evident in our society today, and are calling for a more responsive state and humane system of governance. We are demanding our constitutional and human rights and more accountability from those whom we have elected,” it says.
Guyanese interested in signing on to the petition or in helping to collect signatures can contact the Peoples Parliament by going out to High Street and Brickdam where it is set up, e-mail the group at thepeoplesparliamentguyana@gmail.com, or by making contact at 672-4383.
