Former Attorney General Anil Nandlall has dismissed attacks on oil and gas deals clinched by the Ramotar administration in the run up to the 2015 general election as baseless, noting that the government had been fully empowered compared to the caretaker status of the governing APNU+AFC coalition.
Nandlall believes that the focus should be on the David Granger-led administration which not only signed “giveaway” contracts after the 2015 oil discovery but has led a caretaker government behaving as if it is fully empowered.
“As regards signing of contracts after Parliament was prorogued, is virtually a non-issue for two reasons. Firstly, these applications were pending since 2012 and 2103, long before the prorogation of Parliament. And secondly, they were simply exploration contracts when no oil was found as yet. This pales in comparison when one examines the blatant refusal by this Government to curtail any of its Executive powers after it was defeated by a No-Confidence Motion in the National Assembly and its vulgar refusal to comply with the provisions of Article 106 of the Constitution, which mandates the President and Cabinet to resign and a date fixed for elections within three months thereafter,” Nandlall said on Sunday.
“They have unlawfully squatted in office for over a year and three months after the passage of that No-Confidence Motion, in blatant breach of the Constitution, and behaving as if it is business as usual,” he said.
“The CCJ was kind enough to cast them a lifeline by giving them a caretaker status until September 2019. After that date they became absolutely illegal. Yet, they continue in office, up to now, without any reduction of Executive powers. Both, during their caretaker status and while they were absolutely illegal, they continued to execute contracts, spend taxpayers’ dollars, pay themselves, make appointments – all of which are absolutely illegal and unconstitutional. Yet, they go to the electorate on a platform of “Honesty and Decency”. Nothing can be more audacious and dishonest,” he added.
He pointed to a two-page advertisement in the last Sunday Stabroek criticizing the Ramotar government for its handling of oil contracts shortly before leaving office which Nandall said is riddled with distortions and untruths.
“The coalition Government and its apologists continue to distort the truth by publishing propagandistic assertions as “facts”, in their political campaign trail. The latest is contained in a full page ad, in all the newspapers, titled “PPP Hypocrisy”. This advertisement accuses former President Donald Ramotar of admitting, under oath, that his PPP Administration signed four oil deals in 2015 with companies that had no track record with oil exploration. It further accuses Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo of admitting that the PPP Administration was liberal with the “Giveaway” of oil blocks, days before the 2015 elections,” Nandlal said.
He contended that the advertisement twisted Jagdeo’s comments made at a recent press conference but omitted to state the role the coalition government played in the granting of oil contracts since its time in office.
“At his press conference, Mr. Jagdeo was simply explaining some of the very issues highlighted in my letter: principally, at the time those agreements were signed, oil was not found in Guyana waters and that Guyana was far from an attractive destination for oil exploration. So to attract interests it was necessary to be liberal,” he explained.
“What the advertisement omitted to mention is that after oil was found, in huge quantities, the coalition Government proceeded to sign a production contract on almost identical terms as those contained in the exploratory contract.
Therein lies the incompetence and negligence of a criminal degree. Any person, of average intellect, would have appreciated that the terms and conditions must be radically different in relation to a production contract, once oil was found in such large quantities,” he added.
Pointing to a recent letter in Stabroek News `The KN report of the proceedings in this libel case was skewed and jaundiced’ (SN February 1, 2020), regarding what former President Ramotar said in the witness box, Nandall said the public could read the truth and discern for themselves.
