While saying the controversial sympathy motion for deceased convicted terrorist plotter and former PNC/R Member of Parliament (MP) Abdul Kadir should have never been brought to the National Assembly, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday rejected comparisons with the moment of silence observed for former PPP/C Minister of Home Affairs Ronald Gajraj.
“There has been no sympathy motion passed for Ronald Gajraj. She [General Secretary of the PNCR Amna Ally] has even in his death tried to disparage a patriot. She spoke about Gajraj being fingered in many things…,” Jagdeo said at a press conference yesterday.
“So trying to equate Gajraj with someone who has been charged and convicted with international terrorism and someone who by his own admission said he was presenting reports to a foreign power on our security forces…you are equating that with Ronald Gajraj?” he questioned.
Only government MPs took part in the proceedings as the opposition is boycotting the National Assembly. Two APNU+AFC members spoke on the motion: Valarie Adams-Yearwood and Audwin Rutherford, who both hail from Linden, where Kadir spent much of his life.
The motion sparked criticism from the US, EU and Canadian missions. The US statement, in particular, was one of the strongest condemnations of a branch of government here in recent memory.
It said, “The U.S. Embassy in Georgetown condemns the resolution by Guyana’s National Assembly, reportedly honoring the life and work of convicted terrorist Abdul Kadir. Kadir was sentenced to life in prison in the United States after being found guilty of plotting a 2007 terrorist attack at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Members of the National Assembly, therefore, chose to honor a man who conspired to kill innocent people from across the United States and around the world. This resolution is an insensitive and thoughtless act, which demonstrates the National Assembly’s disregard for the gravity of Kadir’s actions.”
The statement added that the parliamentary resolution draws into question the country’s reputation as a model to the world on religious tolerance and understanding. It also noted that came on the heels of Guyana’s historic cooperation with the United States on the extradition of an alleged murderer. “Members of Parliament have placed this resolution in direct contradiction to the efforts of security cooperation between our two countries,” it added.
In the face of criticism, the government issued a statement trying to play down the intent of the motion and characterising it as standard practice in the National Assembly.
“It is well known that there is a time-honoured convention of the National Assembly to observe, in a standard and solemn form, the work of former Members who are deceased. The observance of this tradition has never been selective, and has included, over the decades, persons of all political parties and persuasions who served in the National Assembly,” it said.
Jagdeo said he understood that Ally had rushed to defend the motion, saying that the National Assembly had also honoured Gajraj.
Jagdeo argued that allegations against Gajraj came not from the public but from persons in “the APNU cabal…,” who pointed fingers at him because he was an effective minister. “Gajraj was never charged or convicted for any of things he was fingered for, as was described by the General Secretary of the PNC, Amna Ally. This is the excuse they make rather than admit that they were wrong. This is the vintage PNC. Blame Gajraj. And when all of this failed them, then pass the buck to the National Assembly and the Clerk,” he added.
He said the motion should have never made it to the National Assembly to begin with as terrorism is a global issue and this country has strongly condemned it. Such a motion, Jagdeo noted, would not only reflect negatively on the party that sponsored it but the entire House.
“The one thing we have been known for during the PNC rule was Jonestown and now… now people will say that Guyana has honoured a person convicted of international terrorism. All of our parliamentarians, when they go abroad, will get tainted by this,” he said. .
He added that Kadir’s family should “never have to worry that our state will treat them any differently” as “people must pay for their own misdeeds. The family should not be treated any different than any Guyanese.”
