Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira says supporters of the APNU+AFC Coalition deserve to be represented and included at all levels of society and they will be as the PPP/C government “restores political and economic stability” and rolls out its transformative projects.
Teixeira issued a statement yesterday in response to one by Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon on Saturday over the absence of APNU+AFC representatives on five boards that have been so far appointed by the PPP/C government.
On Friday when asked about this, Teixeira had told Stabroek News that the former governing coalition was not represented on the boards as it continues to refer to the government as illegitimate.
“They say we are an illegitimate government. If we are an illegitimate government why would you want to sit on any board we are appointing? They have got themselves into what you call a problematic position. You can’t say you want to be on boards but you don’t recognize the government that is appointing those boards”, she stated.
On Saturday Harmon fired back charging that it was ludicrous for the PPP/C government to exclude APNU+AFC from state boards because it maintains that the administration is fraudulent.
“There is a difference between the State and the Government. The State of Guyana is a legal entity that operates in perpetuity. Governments come and go. A government can be illegal and illegitimate [but] where State Boards are prescribed in a law, then it is of the State,” Harmon said in a statement.
He argued that if Teixeira’s “ludicrous” position is taken to its logical conclusion “it would mean that it, the illegitimate PPP, can ignore statutory demands of mutual agreement and proceed to unilaterally appoint a substantive Chancellor, Chief Justice and a new Chair-man of the Guyana Elections Commission.”
Teixeira yesterday said that the statement on Saturday in Harmon’s name appears to be premature and precipitous.
“Firstly, let me state that there are over 100 boards to be appointed and only 5 so far have been appointed by the new government. In the interest of inclusivity and participatory democracy, these five boards include members of the new political parties, civil society as well as individuals who have supported the PNC. This trend will continue as other boards are appointed.
“Let me say that the supporters of the PNC/ APNU/AFC Coalition deserve to be represented and included at all levels of society, and, they will be, as the PPP/C government restores political and economic stability and rolls out its transformative projects to put Guyana back on track for all Guyanese”, Teixeira said.
She argued that when Harmon asserted that “Where the law does not specify Opposition participation, the Government is obliged to include the Opposition in the interest of transparency and accountability…”, he seems to have conveniently forgotten that boards were appointed by his government as late as July 2020 for the next 3 years. She pointed out that this was after the results of the elections recount were known on June 9th 2020 and that the PPP/C had won the elections.
Illogical
She added that Harmon’s thought processes did an illogical leap to interpret her comments, as reported by the SN reporter, to mean that where the law requires the Opposition representatives to sit on a board that the PPP/C would not comply. Further, she noted that he went on to state that “it would mean that it, the illegitimate PPP, can ignore statutory demands of mutual agreement and proceed to unilaterally appoint a substantive Chancellor, Chief Justice and a new Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission.”
“That is sheer mischief to mislead; Mr. Harmon needs to be reminded that as the Opposition Leader he now holds a constitutional position which carries with it greater responsibilities and requires principles and values in the interest of the nation”, Teixeira declared.
She stated that the track record of the PPP/C in government demonstrates that it did abide by the constitutional provisions in regards to appointments to constitutional posts as well as where the law required representation by the Parliamentary Opposition and that the Opposition were offered seats on boards which were not stipulated.
“Do they believe that the Guyanese people are so fickle as to forget that it is the head of the APNU+AFC Coalition, President (David) Granger, that appointed the Chair-man of the GECOM in October 2017 in violation of the Guyana Constitution and continued to perpetuate this violation until the Caribbean Court of Justice on June 18th 2019 ruled that the appointment of retired Justice Patterson by the President was flawed and unconstitutional? Furthermore it is the APNU+AFC government that holds the record of being a serial offender of violations of the Constitution as adjudicated by the Guyana courts – violation of art 106 (in the) no confidence motion, interference in the Public Service Com-mission and the Police Service Commission, revocation of farmers’ leases, appointment of technocratic ministers in violation of the constitutional provisions from 2015 to 2019 while these Ministers continued in office and received their salaries and benefits even after the court finally ruled in January 2019, to name a few”, Teixeira declared.
Freudian
She added that Harmon’s statement that “A government can be illegal and illegitimate as is the one she is a part of,” appears to be a Freudian slip.
Said Teixeira: “It is his government that unlawfully did everything possible to remain in government for 14 months after a successful No Confidence Vote in open violation of article 106 of the Constitu-tion. Even more offensive was the repeated attempts to thwart the will of the people and rig the election results to keep them illegitimately in office after March 2, 2020”.
She charged that during the 11th Parliament, APNU treated their coalition partners as appendages and took the majority in the parliamentary committees reducing their partners to “tokens” for appearances sake.
“This control-freakism was repeated most recently when the PNC/APNU appointed a representative of the WPA without any consultation as they did in 2015 whilst omitting a representative from the faithful Justice For All Party”, Teixeira stated.
She added that during the life of the APNU+AFC Coalition government, every single board was dominated by Coalition supporters.
“The PPP/C government is different and will unapologetically include representatives on boards from civil society, political parties, skilled and experienced individuals who reflect the diversity of our nation in keeping with our constitution and in particular article 13” of the constitution.
Referring to the presence of a third party in Parliament, Teixeira said that she continues to point out that the composition of the Parliamentary Opposition post 2020 elections is vastly changed.
“The APNU+AFC Coalition has to adjust to sharing political space with the newer smaller parties and civil society who showed their resolve to protect democracy when Guyana was under threat”, Teixeira declared.
