A meeting on Wednesday between the AFC and APNU will see the two parties finalizing their strategy for the upcoming sitting of the National Assembly which could see a delay in the AFC’s no-confidence motion against the Donald Ramotar administration.
“We are willing to be flexible on the position,” Leader of the AFC Khemraj Ramjattan told Stabroek News yesterday. He pointed out that while the AFC wants the no-confidence motion to be dealt with first, the support of APNU is crucial and the main opposition coalition may have some legislative matters that it wants to deal with first. In addition, the AFC also wants the setting up of the Public Procure-ment Commission and passage of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism AML/CFT (Amend-ment) Bill, and, should this happen, the no-confidence motion could be pushed back.
Ramjattan emphasized that this delay could be as short as a few hours or longer.
On Saturday, after the opposition had pressed for weeks for a sitting of the House, the Office of the President (OP) announced that President Donald Ramotar has directed that steps be taken to convene a sitting of the National Assembly within 14 days. The PPP/C’s Chief Whip Gail Teixeira had told Stabroek News that government would indicate a date for a sitting of the National Assembly, “certainly in the early part of [this] week.” She declined to reveal what date the government has in mind for the sitting but said that it will be communicating with Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs early this week to indicate its desire for a sitting and for him to convene one.
Following the conclusion of the two-month-long parliamentary recess on October 10, the AFC has been pushing for the National Assembly to be reconvened in order to proceed with a debate and vote on its no-confidence motion against the government. The combined opposition’s one- seat majority is enough to see the passage of the motion, which would trigger new elections within three months. As a result, the Donald Ramotar-led executive has been accused of deliberately stalling in setting a date for the next sitting and questions have since arisen as to who had the power to call a sitting.
Yesterday, Ramjattan disclosed that on Wednesday, the AFC and APNU will be meeting to discuss their strategy on how they will proceed on the sitting day’s business.
The OP statement had said that the government had a number of pending legislative matters before the House prior to the annual recess. Further, there are important financial papers relating to the development of the country and growth of the economy that need to be urgently addressed, it had said.
Ramjattan reiterated yesterday that while the AFC would like to have the no-confidence motion as the first thing on the agenda, there are certain important pieces of legislation that APNU may want to have addressed first. He cited the AML/CFT Bill as well as the Telecoms Bill. “We might very well have to flex,” he said.
The AFC leader noted that they have not yet seen the Order Paper for the sitting and if these Bills are listed to be dealt with on that day, the AFC would be flexible as it relates to the order in which the no-confidence motion would be dealt with.
“We are capable of flexing based on the nature of the legislation…” he said while noting that it was important to the country. He suggested that the Bills could be passed and “later in the day,” they would go on to the no-confidence motion.
As it relates to the anti-money laundering bill, Ramjattan added that if it is ready and comes on the Order Paper and the government says that the commissioners of the Public Procurement Commission will be named, then the party will deal with that because it is in the country’s interest to do so. He said that this would have the added benefit of getting even more done before Parliament dissolves. “We are responsible enough to ensure that happens,” he said while noting that the AFC had called for this before.
Ramjattan also noted that they will be very cautious as it relates to any action the government may take and what is on the table. “I can timeline and we can work that out,” he said explaining that even if there is an extended timeline for the passage of the bill “we will act on the necessity” and that reason prevails.
However, he said, if it seems that the government is just stalling that “we may very well have the no-confidence motion be dealt with forthwith.” He noted that on the first sitting, a number of things can play out.
The AFC leader said that the different possibilities will be discussed with APNU at their Wednesday meeting as their support is crucial. Based on what APNU says “we can very well forestall the no-confidence motion,” Ramjattan said adding that they do not want a case where the no-confidence motion comes up and APNU does not support it. He said that should the anti-money laundering bill as well as the Telecoms Bill be brought up, then the no-confidence motion could perhaps become the third item on the agenda.
“We have to discuss all the possibilities on Wednesday because we have to be acting responsibly,” Ramjattan said. “We have to act with APNU conjointly.”
