Letter: Credible Opposition is necessary

New PNC Leader Aubrey Norton

Dear Editor,

There is a clip circulating on social media of Opposition and PNC/APNU Leader Aubrey Norton. The clip was taken from Mr Norton’s most recent press conference, during which he read a prepared statement. In a flight of fantasy, Mr Norton claimed that the protesters who stormed Mon Repos market on June 28th and inflicted beatings, robberies, and millions of dollars in damage to the properties of their hapless Indo-Guyanese victims were sent by the governing PPP.

Not only is this claim absurd, but it inflicts further damage to Mr Norton’s already waning credibility, and does a serious disservice to this country at a time when the country is poised to reap significant financial and other benefits from oil and gas.

What Mr. Norton fails to realise is that the country needs a strong and credible Opposition party and Opposition Leader, to provide the necessary checks and balances and to be the guardians of the nation’s finances, particularly during this time. If this is Mr Norton’s posture now, how does he expect to be taken seriously when he is actually speaking the truth?

Regards,
Thomas Cole

Norton is immature and lacks credibility.

PNCR will have biennial congress before 2025 ,leadership of the party can change. Khemraj Ramjattan also said he will not be running for office in 2025.

How about the red party with the undemocratic method of selecting leadership ,when will  their congress schedule ?.

AFC to part ways with APNU by year-end

…open to new partnerships

Jul 09, 2022 News -- Source -- Kaieteur News Online -- https://www.kaieteurnewsonline...th-apnu-by-year-end/

Kaieteur News – Newly elected executives of the Alliance For Change (AFC) have decided to part ways with the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) by the end of this year, when the Cummingsburg Accord—the agreement binding the two political groups—comes to an end.

AFC Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan

This was announced by Chairperson of the AFC, Catherine Hughes, during the party’s first press conference following its internal elections last month.

Hughes told members of the media that the decision to walk away from the Coalition was taken at the National Conference, where the 200 members decided that upon the expiry of the current agreement, a renewal will not be facilitated to bind the parties.

Instead, she said the AFC will focus on rebuilding and walking on its own feet.

Hughes, at the press engagement, acknowledged that challenges within the Coalition exist, hinting that these may have promoted the decision.

To this end, the Chairperson indicated that there is a strong possibility that the AFC may spend the next two years focusing on “getting back on the ground.” The party has not however, ruled out the thought of coalescing with other parties just yet.

In fact, the third largest political group explained that it has already discussed reaching out to the smaller parties that contended in the 2020 elections, as well as the Trade Unions.

When it comes to partnering with the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) however, AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan said, it is simply a “nonstarter” unless the incumbent administration mends its “corrupt” ways and in particular commence a structured distribution of the accumulated wealth from oil earnings.

Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform, Aubrey Norton

Ramjattan argued that if the party did “good things”, the AFC would be tempted to join, but in the meantime, he does not see a partnership being formed.

The AFC Leader also registered his concerns over the more recent ‘Su-revelation’ adding that the party would be willing to support the PPP if it got rid of the person tied to the allegations- Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo.

About five weeks ago, the AFC said it met with the Leader of the Opposition to discuss the way forward.

Present from the APNU side were Aubrey Norton, Volda Lawrence and Geeta Chandan-Edmond.

On Monday, the two sides are expected to meet again. Ramjattan said he anticipates a “meaningful” agenda.  The tension between the APNU and AFC sparked when a member of the Alliance For Change, Charrandass Persaud turned against the Coalition and voted in favour of a ‘No Confidence’ Motion that filed against the then government in December 2018.

@Former Member posted:

AFC to part ways with APNU by year-end

…open to new partnerships

Jul 09, 2022 News -- Source -- Kaieteur News Online -- https://www.kaieteurnewsonline...th-apnu-by-year-end/

Kaieteur News – Newly elected executives of the Alliance For Change (AFC) have decided to part ways with the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) by the end of this year, when the Cummingsburg Accord—the agreement binding the two political groups—comes to an end.

AFC Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan

Hughes told members of the media that the decision to walk away from the Coalition was taken at the National Conference, where the 200 members decided that upon the expiry of the current agreement, a renewal will not be facilitated to bind the parties.

Instead, she said the AFC will focus on rebuilding and walking on its own feet.

Hughes, at the press engagement, acknowledged that challenges within the Coalition exist, hinting that these may have promoted the decision.

To this end, the Chairperson indicated that there is a strong possibility that the AFC may spend the next two years focusing on “getting back on the ground.” The party has not however, ruled out the thought of coalescing with other parties just yet.

[[[Quote]]]

“getting back on the ground.”

[[[Unquote]]]

Sooooo, perhaps they are looking to resurface from deep in the ground. 

@Former Member posted:

[[[Quote]]]

“getting back on the ground.”

[[[Unquote]]]

Sooooo, perhaps they are looking to resurface from deep in the ground. 

and you will still have your head in the clouds.  It seems what the Chairperson said went way over your head.

Will the PPP use the oil money to buy votes and especially the Afros? Should that happen, it would be difficult for the AFC to get even one seat.

Norton awaiting formal word from AFC on “parting way” decision

Jul 10, 2022 News -- Source -- Kaieteur News Online -- https://www.kaieteurnewsonline...arting-way-decision/

Kaieteur News – Leader of the Opposition and the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R), the largest faction of the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) coalition, is adamant that its relationship with the AFC will be maintained despite the AFC’s stated intend to part ways by year end.

Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton

Norton on Saturday explained that until the Leader of the AFC, Khemraj Ramjattan has outlined the party’s plan to him, he will not be accepting any decision. He told Kaieteur News, “As far as I know, the AFC is still in the Coalition and until that time comes I wouldn’t venture into commenting into what was said yesterday (Friday). I do not operate based on sensationalism and emotionalism. Until Khemraj Ramjattan and the AFC say to me that they are parting ways I will just not comment on it…until the AFC communicates with me and says anything I will treat it as a Coalition.”

Meanwhile, popular talk show host, Mark Benschop, weighed-in on the AFC announcement, saying via a Facebook post on Saturday that the AFC was only awarded seats in Parliament due to its relationship with the Coalition. As such, he threatened, “yall ain’t gonna use we and leff we fuh go and bargain with others…dah is not the contract we signed when we voted for the coalition. So, if yall wanna go alone, then yall return all of the seats to the Coalition…or, I will see yall in court.”

Leader of the AFC, Khemraj Ramjattan

On Friday, Chairperson of the AFC, Catherine Hughes announced that the members of the Alliance For Change decided at the last National Conference, hosted last month, that when the Cummingsburg Accord comes to an end on December 31 this year, the party will not be renewing the agreement.

Instead, she said the AFC will focus on rebuilding and walking on its own feet.

Hughes, at the press engagement, acknowledged that challenges within the Coalition exist, hinting that these may have promoted the decision.

To this end, the Chairperson indicated that there is a strong possibility that the AFC may spend the next two years focusing on “getting back on the ground.” The party has, however, not ruled out coalescing with other parties.

In fact, the third largest political group explained that it has already discussed reaching out to smaller parties that contended in the 2020 elections, as well as the trade unions.

When it comes to partnering with the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) however, AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan said, it is simply a “nonstarter” unless the incumbent administration mends its “corrupt” ways and in particular commence a structured distribution of the accumulated wealth from oil earnings.

Ramjattan argued that if the party did “good things”, the AFC would be tempted to join, but in the meantime, he does not see a partnership being formed.

The AFC Leader also registered his concerns over the more recent ‘Su-revelation’ adding that the party would be willing to support the PPP if it got rid of the person tied to the allegations – Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo.

About five weeks ago, the AFC said it met with the Leader of the Opposition to discuss the way forward.

In addition to Norton, present from the APNU side were Volda Lawrence and Geeta Chandan-Edmond.

On Monday, the two sides are expected to meet again. Ramjattan said he anticipates a “meaningful” agenda.  The tension between the APNU and AFC sparked when a member of the AFC Charrandass Persaud turned against the Coalition and voted in favour of a No Confidence Motion that was filed against the then government in December 2018.

@Former Member posted:

Norton awaiting formal word from AFC on “parting way” decision

Jul 10, 2022 News -- Source -- Kaieteur News Online -- https://www.kaieteurnewsonline...arting-way-decision/

Kaieteur News – Leader of the Opposition and the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R), the largest faction of the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) coalition, is adamant that its relationship with the AFC will be maintained despite the AFC’s stated intend to part ways by year end.

Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton

Leader of the AFC, Khemraj Ramjattan

Perhaps Aubrey Norton is expecting that Khemraj Ramjattan; as usual; will be meeting with him on bent knees and lowering of his head.   

Snatching of Speaker’s Mace: Privileges Committee recommends suspension of 8 APNU/AFC MPs

A tug-of-war between APNU+AFC MPs and Parliament Staff after the Opposition Parliamentarians stole the mace from Speaker Manzoor Nadir in December 2021

The Parliamentary Committee of Privileges has recommended the suspension of eight A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Members of Parliament who participated in the infamous Mace grab and disruptions of the National Assembly sitting on December 29, 2021.

The Committee was tasked with considering a Privilege Motion which stated that the eight Opposition Members attempted to prevent the second and third readings of the Natural Resource Fund Bill No 20 of 2021, conducted themselves in a gross disorderly, contumacious, and disrespectful manner, and repeatedly ignored the authority of the Assembly and that of the Speaker, thereby committing contempt and breaches of privileges.

The eight MPs in question are: Opposition Chief Whip Christopher Jones, Ganesh Mahipaul, Sherod Duncan, Natasha Singh-Lewis, Annette Ferguson, Vinceroy Jordan, Tabitha Sarabo-Halley, and Maureen Philadelphia.

After seeking an extension to its one-month timeline to consider the violations committed by the members, the Committee finally completed the report and submitted it to be laid in the National Assembly for debate. The next sitting is slated for Thursday, July 21.

According to the report, the Committee’s findings were based on video recordings, statements by staff of the Parliament Office and the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, eyewitness accounts by other Members of the House, media reporters and the public, both locally and internationally.

Additionally, each Opposition Member was written to and asked to “show cause” why sanctions should not be meted out to them. Their responses were received and considered by the Committee.

With these on hand, the Committee “found that the named Members were in violation of the Standing Orders, established Customs and Practices regarding acceptable behaviour of Members in the Assembly”.

To this end, the Committee determined the appropriate sanction available for the National Assembly to impose is suspension from service in the House.

As a result, the Privileges Committee recommended that Christopher Jones, Ganesh Mahipaul, Sherod Duncan and Natasha Singh-Lewis be suspended for four consecutive sittings each for attempting to prevent the second and third readings of the NRF Bill, and for conducting themselves in a gross disorderly, contumacious, and disrespectful manner, and repeatedly ignoring the authority of the Assembly and that of the Speaker, and thereby committing contempt and breaches of privileges.

Recommendation was also made for MPs Annette Ferguson and Vinceroy Jordan to be suspended for six consecutive sittings each for a similar offence. However, their suspension was higher since the Committee concurred that they had committed “serious violations which were severe and egregious by unauthorisedly removing the Parliamentary Mace from its rightful position in a disorderly fashion, causing damage to the Mace, injuring and assaulting a staff of the Parliament Office, while attempting to remove the Mace from the Chamber”.

Meanwhile, a similar recommendation of suspension for six consecutive sittings was made against Tabitha Sarabo-Halley, whose violations were found to be “severe and egregious with regard to unauthorisedly entering the communication control room of the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) and destroying several pieces of audio-visual equipment, being public property”.

In addition, MP Maureen Philadelphia is also facing a suspension recommendation for six consecutive sittings over her severe and egregious violations, whereby she “verbally assaulted a staff of the Parliament Office within the precincts of the National Assembly”.

The Privileges Committee is chaired by Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir, and its members comprise of both Government and Opposition MPs.

Representing Government are: Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips; Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Mohabir Anil Nandlall, SC; Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Minister, Gail Teixeira; Culture, Youth and Sports Minister, Charles Ramson; and Sanjeev J Datadin.

On the APNU/AFC Opposition’s side are: Khemraj Ramjattan; Roysdale Forde, SC; Geeta Chandan-Edmond, and David A Patterson.

It is understood that the Opposition Members did not participate in the last three of the five Committee meetings. Hence, the other members including the Chairman went ahead and concluded the report with the recommendations for suspension of the eight Opposition MPs in question.

The report is expected to the laid in the National Assembly next Thursday, however, that is it a Private Members’ Day – meaning, the day is set aside for the Opposition’s business to be dealt with. They have three motions on the agenda.

But according to Minister Teixeira, Government is hoping to start the debate on the Report afterwards on Thursday.

She noted that this is the first time, in recent years, that the Privileges Committee has managed to conclude a matter before it.

“But it’s good in a sense that this is a very serious matter and the Committee was able to rule and make a decision, of course by majority,” the Parliamentary Affairs Minister stated.

APNU/AFC refuses to accept Privileges Committee recommendation for suspension of 8 MPs

See below for full statement from APNU/AFC on the recommendation to suspend 8 Opposition MPs for alleged parliamentary misconduct:

On March 1st, 2022, Opposition Members of Parliament Christopher Jones (Opposition Chief Whip), Ganesh Mahipaul, Tabitha Sarabo-Halley, Sherod Duncan, Vinceroy Jordan, Natasha Singh-Lewis, Annette Ferguson and Maureen Philadelphia received letters from the Clerk of the Committee of Privileges captioned “Re: Referral to the Committee of Privileges for gross disorderly conduct, contempt, and breaches of privileges in the Assembly” requesting that they “show cause”, in writing, to the Clerk of the National Assembly by Monday, 7^th March 2022, why the Committee of Privileges should not recommend to the National Assembly that sanctions be meted out to them for alleged gross disorderly conduct, contempt, and breaches of privileges.

All eight Members of Parliament responded between the 4th and 7th March, 2022, requesting further information from the Clerk of the National Assembly on the allegations, since the motion which referred them to the Committee of Privileges for gross disorderly conduct, contempt, and breaches of privileges NEVER specified which of their acts so qualified.

To this date, July 16th, 2022, none of the eight Members of Parliament has received a response from the Clerk of the National Assembly, the Clerk of the Committee of Privileges, or the Speaker of the National Assembly. The Opposition MPs are now however in receipt of a report from the Committee of Privileges which has ascribed to them several false and trumped-up acts intended to impugn their good character. The report recommends suspension for all MPs.

The APNU+AFC rejects this recommendation as we consider it to be:

1. a)Unconstitutional because our constitution—the supreme law of our land— enshrines the right of all citizens to natural justice; that is, the right of every Guyanese, regardless of the charges, to be given an opportunity to be heard by a competent, independent, and impartial court or any other tribunal prescribed by law.
2. b)Unparliamentary because the records of Parliament show that all Members of Parliament in the past who were referred to the Committee of Privileges were always afforded the opportunity to be represented by legal counsels of their choice and were all given the opportunity to be heard.
3. c)An act of political discrimination and suppression, aimed at deterring and intimidating Opposition MPs from fully scrutinizing and criticizing the actions of the government on behalf of the Guyanese people.

It is our firm conviction that this is yet another attempt by the PPP regime to continue breaking down the guardrails of our democracy. But our lawmakers will not sit back and allow such an unconstitutional act to go unchallenged. We wish to assure our supporters, friends, and all Guyanese that this illegal act to suspend eight Members of Parliament without due process will be challenged. We also thank the thousands of Guyanese who called and sent messages of support. We will continue to fight for our Guyana and we know the people of Guyana are standing strong with us.

                                                            -END-

AFC not afraid of consequences in parting ways with APNU – Ramjattan

AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan

Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC) Khemraj Ramjattan has positioned that his party is not afraid of the consequences which may arise after parting ways with the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) this year-end, amid chatter about the reduction of its parliamentary presence.

The AFC had announced its split from the coalition earlier this month, after forming the APNU/AFC seven years ago.

In a press conference on Friday, Ramjattan outlined that the Cummingsburg Accord provides for termination between three to five years. The AFC would have agreed on three years at its recent National Executive Conference (NEC).

Now, he said they are “unafraid” of the consequences to come and are unprepared to give up any of its parliamentary seats.

“We opted for the three-year termination…I do not see anything that would affect our parliamentary relationship in Opposition. I’m unafraid of the chatterati about consequences on our nine parliamentarians.”

Ramjattan added, “We’re not going to give up our seats. Those seats were earned. The APNU people will know that too. Why should we want to give up our parliamentary seats when being in Opposition now, that is a good platform to carry out Opposition works.”

The AFC leader has contended that his party will continue to engage the APNU in maintaining its working relationship.

When the split was announced, Ramjattan had said that the AFC would only consider entering into a new coalition with the APNU closer to the next General and Regional Elections due in 2025. While the AFC had announced its decision to remain in the coalition with APNU until the expiry of the Cummingsburg Accord in December, no definitive position was shared regarding the party’s way forward until this announcement.

Initial reports were that the AFC decided to stay in “a revised political alliance with APNU, whether coalition or a parliamentary cooperation agreement but the AFC must demand and secure a firm agreement and structure for it to have a greater influence on policy positions and political action within the alliance while maintaining its independence and rebranding and regaining its identity”.

The AFC had joined hands with the APNU to contest the 2015 General and Regional Elections and the coalition subsequently won. The parties signed the Cummingsburg Accord, which outlined the parliamentary seats and ministerial portfolios for AFC and APNU members, respectively. However, APNU, led by former President David Granger, had been accused of continuously violating the accord.

On December 24, 2019, after much back and forth between APNU and the AFC, a revised Cummingsburg Accord was signed, but the full details were never released to the public.

Following the AFC’s recent NEC, the APNU issued a statement whereby it expressed satisfaction that the smaller party decided to stay in the coalition. It had added that the AFC’s decision to remain in the coalition will “add impetus” to the parties’ “joint efforts” to win the next national election.

Since it came into office after joining forces with the APNU in 2015, the minority AFC has been criticised for the submissive role it has been playing to the APNU. Decisions the former Government made, such as the closure of sugar estates, which put thousands of sugar workers out of jobs, were passed unchallenged and even supported by the AFC. This is despite the AFC retaining the Agriculture Ministry.

This passive relationship with APNU was cited by former AFC parliamentarian Charrandas Persaud, as one of the reasons he voted for the No-Confidence Motion that brought down the APNU/AFC Government in 2018.

@Former Member posted:

AFC not afraid of consequences in parting ways with APNU – Ramjattan

…not prepared to give up parliamentary seats

July 16, 2022 -- Source -- https://www.inewsguyana.com/af...with-apnu-ramjattan/

AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan

Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC) Khemraj Ramjattan has positioned that his party is not afraid of the consequences which may arise after parting ways with the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) this year-end, amid chatter about the reduction of its parliamentary presence.

The AFC had announced its split from the coalition earlier this month, after forming the APNU/AFC seven years ago.

In a press conference on Friday, Ramjattan outlined that the Cummingsburg Accord provides for termination between three to five years. The AFC would have agreed on three years at its recent National Executive Conference (NEC).

Now, he said they are “unafraid” of the consequences to come and are unprepared to give up any of its parliamentary seats.

“We opted for the three-year termination…I do not see anything that would affect our parliamentary relationship in Opposition. I’m unafraid of the chatterati about consequences on our nine parliamentarians.”

Ramjattan added, “We’re not going to give up our seats. Those seats were earned. The APNU people will know that too. Why should we want to give up our parliamentary seats when being in Opposition now, that is a good platform to carry out Opposition works.”

Perhaps Ramjattan forgot that the AFC earned those seats based on the parliamentary fact that the opposition seats were earned under the PNCR/APNU plus other parties united as ONE to contest the recent elections.

Should the AFC decides to walk-away leave the coalition with the PNCR; they-AFC will have to relinquish their seats to the opposition coalition.

Of note; when the AFC was formed by former members of the PNCR and PPP, the then AFC decided to maintain the seats from the other parties based on the then legislation. However, the matter was reviewed and amendments were approved in parliament by the PNCR and PPPC that made it explicit clear that seats ALWAYS remain with the political organization and members CANNOT take their seats when leaving the groups/organizations.