Members of the main opposition APNU will not be attending the public consultation on the stalled anti-money laundering amendment bill slated for the Guyana International Conference Centre tomorrow.
APNU executive Joseph Harmon stated that while the coalition would not be advocating that its supporters boycott the consultation, members of its executive are not slated to attend. “We have not told our supporters not to go but we are concerned that you do not create a farce
to make it appear as if all Guyanese support a position taken by the PPP/C administration that you must pass the bill as is,” he said at a press conference yesterday.
“Government has a responsibility to ensure that this bill is passed and it has nothing to do with just the national consultation.
Government has to consult with the opposition. It’s a very simple formula,” he added.
President Donald Ramotar is scheduled to address the gathering and Harmon said it was the president’s responsibility to ensure that the opposition’s views were also aired during the consultation.
When asked if APNU was making a mistake by boycotting the consultation and disregarding the opportunity to clarify its positions, Harmon said it is not necessary. He said APNU’s position has been presented ad nauseam. He added that as a member of the Special Select Committee charged with revising the legislation, he was already where the “the heart of the bill” is.
Harmon said that by hosting such an event the government was talking away from where the real work was being done. “That is not where you make your point.
The point has to be made in the boardroom,” he said, while adding that APNU has clarified its position on the proposed amendments as it awaits the Chief Parliamentary Counsel’s final drafts.
Harmon was sceptical that the consultation was anything but another venue for the PPP/C administration to reinforce its political position on the bill. He said that if anything, the consultation would allow for “drumbeats of war” in expressing the possibility of general elections.
The government has called for a National Consultation on the bill and invited all stakeholders to attend and express their views tomorrow. The PPP/C administration is hoping to sway APNU and the AFC to pass the proposed legislation in its current form while the opposition has stated that the bill would be passed if certain requirements were met, including the incorporation of APNU’s amendments into the bill; the establishment of the Public Procurement Commis-sion; and the enactment of bills that have been passed by the House but vetoed by the president.
The Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) has given Guyana until May to complete the legislative process and to put the non-legislative institutions, such as the Financial Intelligence Unit, in order or face action by the Financial Action Task Force. Currently Guyana is on the CFATF’s list of countries facing regional sanctions.
