APNU, AFC ‘buckling under pressure’
- Finance Minister calls on Civil Society to maintain pressure on Opposition to pass AML/CFT Bill
FINANCE Minister Dr Ashni Singh said the return of two members of the Opposition to the AML/CFT meeting after they stormed out and missed two meetings earlier this week is evidence that the Opposition is finally responding to the outrage of civil society at their callous and irresponsible attitudes towards issues of national importance.
Dr Ashni Singh, Minister of Finance
He said all stakeholders and social partners should maintain pressure on all Opposition parties until this bill is passed.
The Opposition’s return to the meetings is indicative that the APNU and the AFC are “buckling under pressure” from Government, stakeholders and the general public to see this bill to the House on Monday, Dr Singh said.
According to him, it would appear that the joint Opposition has exhausted its delay tactics.
Last year when the bill was first proposed to the National Assembly, the Opposition claimed they were being rushed and needed more time, notwithstanding that the bill was in Committee for eight months.
During the Select Committee meetings in 2013, when the bill was first introduced to the House, neither APNU or the AFC provided any written recommendations that could have contributed to the Bill’s finalisation. Dr Singh said further evidence of their delay tactics can be noted in their haphazard attendance of meetings aimed to derail the work of the Committee.
On November 7, 2013 the AFC and APNU denied the reading of a petition by the Private Sector Commission (PSC) which called on the Opposition to pass the Bill. Instead, the AFC and APNU collectively denied passage of the Bill that plunged Guyana onto the CFATF blacklist of non- compliant countries.
It has been 11 months since the original Committee met, yet the AFC and the APNU has not documented their suggestions or recommendations for the bill.
As the fate of Guyana hangs in the balance at this critical hour, as the FATF prepares to meet next Thursday to determine what actions, if any will be taken against this nation, the APNU on Monday once again, denied the Private Sector Commission (PSC) from observing the Select Committee meetings and walked out of the meeting to prevent the committee from continuing its work.
On Tuesday, none of the Opposition members attended the meeting.
On Thursday only two of the five members of the Opposition team bothered to attend.
Dr Singh said “the APNU and the AFC have one last opportunity to demonstrate good will to the people of Guyana by working with Government over the weekend to submit the Committee’s report to the House.”
The Finance Minister concluded by saying that “all stakeholders and public minded citizens should continue to pressure the AFC and the APNU to see this vital piece of legislation to the floor of the House for passage on Monday.”
Guyanachronicle
