The passage of the AML/ CFT (Amendment) Bill seems hinged on the ability of the PPP/C, APNU and the AFC to compromise on positions they have held for almost a year and others adopted more recently, but with only the AFC demonstrating the willingness to budge on its longstanding demands the passage of the bill by any deadline seems bleak.
The need for compromise was emphasized by Alliance for Change (AFC) Leader Khemraj Ramjattan during a press conference on Thursday, held just hours after word broke that the bill would not be taken back to the house because Chief Parliamentary Coun-sel Cecil Dhurjon was unable to translate opposition proposed amendments into legal language for consideration by the select committee examining the bill.
When the bill was taken to the house last April, the AFC maintained that it would not support the legislation until the government named its nominees to Public Procurement Commission (PPC), helped get the names approved in the National Assembly, and provide financing so that the body can begin to function.