Alliance For Change (AFC) leader Khemraj Ramjattan has dubbed the government’s appeal for international support because it feels Guyana is under threat as a result of the opposition’s actions in the National Assembly absurd.
“I found it striking and I thought it was so absurd… they probably feel that if they first run and start crying before these organisations that they might get sympathy. But I want to remind them that these organisations have strong footholds in this country and know basically what is happening here and whether the cry is one that is genuine or whether it’s crocodile tears,” Ramjattan said yesterday at a party news conference.
Ramjattan added that the government has to come to the realization that it has to engage with the opposition so they can move forward.
In a document that it says has been circulated to international and regional bodies and which was released by the Government Information Agency (GINA) on Tuesday, the government declared that “the developments in the National Assembly and the wider society in Guyana are subverting parliamentary democracy and posing a serious and real threat to political stability.”
The document, titled “Guyana’s parliamentary democracy being subverted: The Opposition’s ‘dictatorship of one,’” reiterates an earlier warning made to the Organisation of American States (OAS) that the situation in Guyana is precarious and warrants close attention.
“The Guyana Government calls on your organisation to monitor and to consider what statements and postures it may wish to make in support of the protection of parliamentary democracy and the legitimacy of a democratically elected government,” it adds.
Main opposition APNU, in a statement released before the government circulated its document, condemned the PPP/C administration for “relentless attacks” on Oppo-sition Leader David Granger, Speaker Raphael Trotman and opposition members of the National Assembly.
It also released a dossier compiled by Granger, titled “The Executive War on the Legislative Branch” and based on selected reports by GINA.
The 133-page dossier cites 90 reports, between January 11, 2012 and November 30, 2012 and APNU said it was concerned about the content and character of the reports, “which contain language and express opinions which have the potential to impair collaboration between the executive and legislative branches and impede the work of the National Assembly.”
