The Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) has called attempts by government to “de-legitimise” the National Assembly infantile and insists they must stop.
The opposition parliamentary control is constitutional, be it one-seat or otherwise; equally as the votes that secured executive control, be it minority or otherwise, GTUC General Secretary Lincoln Lewis said in a statement last Wednesday.
“A new opportunity presents itself to advance governance of a national character, i.e. exclusionary democracy, and the moment must be seized. One does not have to be in control of the National Assembly nor the Executive to advance programmes on behalf of the people with their involvement and support,” Lewis said, a day after the government petitioned regional and international bodies for support as a result of the opposition’s use of its control over the National Assembly.
Lewis said elections are over and it is time to address governance in a serious and forthright manner with the three branches of government held to standards consistent with the Constitution. He further noted that the sincerity of the administration’s call shall be proven in the prevailing voice of reason and mechanisms put in place to ensure respect for international principles, the constitution, parliamentary democracy and the will of the people.
Lewis said the GTUC “emphatically welcomes” the administration’s petitioning of the international community for support and called on other stakeholders, including the parliamentary parties, Bar Association, human rights groups, trade unions, academia, media, religious and business communities and other members of civil society and civic-minded individuals to support the move as well.
It said in the past the PPP/C viewed international observation of the said nature as interventionist and it bodes well to note that Guyana stands to benefit from the support of the international community whose mandate is premised on laws, declarations, conventions and charters, the principles of which are enshrined in the Guyana Constitution.
“And if it requires the adult in the room being someone of external extraction and/or affiliation to bring attention to the principle of self–determination – a prerequisite for solution to our problems – which is [in] our hands ignored, then the GTUC is encouraged by the government’s calls,” Lewis said.
The General Secretary also added that a complaint is best addressed when the conciliator and arbiter – in this instance the international community – is armed with the requisite tools, inclusive of all the instruments applicable in the governance systems and that of the international community, and ensuring the accused (opposition) and other stakeholders are heard.
In principle, he noted, Guyana’s parliamentary democracy is no different than others wherein this branch while sharing oversight and co-relationship with the Executive and Judicial branches is also allowed independence and autonomy in its day to day management, and of which such powers and responsibilities are expressly outlined in the Constitution. He added that the law gives the presidency to the party with the highest amount of votes, who together with a team forms the Executive. This creates the possibility for a political party, as currently exists, to receive less than the majority of votes cast at the elections. In the National Assembly, seats are allotted to political parties based on a stipulated formula which creates the possibility for the opposition to have control of the House as evident in the 10th Parliament.
“This is our reality and the parties were cognisant of the possibilities they were getting into,” Lewis emphasised.
