Creating history

Yesterday was historic in more ways than many Guyanese would care to remember. For perhaps the first time since Guyana became an independent nation, its Parliament was prorogued. It is now on record that President Donald Ramotar opted to suspend the 10th Parliament rather than face a no-confidence motion against his government.
On November 4, 2014, President Ramotar addressed the nation. In that address he stared at the no confidence motion which, if passed, would have forced him to call general elections in three months. From his perspective, there were Bills crucial to national development that needed to be debated before any no confidence motion could be accommodated.
For sure, the ruling party is behaving as though it controls the Parliament. Being a minority government the combined opposition controls the parliamentary agenda. The standing orders of the House do dictate that the Leader of Government business in the House would indicate the date for sittings. But the opposition would determine which Bills would go forward.
The first inkling that the government was prepared to thwart the opposition parties, despite their majority, was when President Ramotar refused to assent to Bills passed by the opposition. Try as they might, the opposition parties could not get the President to budge.
It was the same with Parliamentary matters. The opposition voted to disapprove certain aspects of the budget but the government went ahead and spent the money anyhow. What was happening was that, the government was telling the opposition that it was going to do what it considered necessary regardless of the opposition’s objection.
Three years of rubber stamping Government excesses must have proven enough because the Alliance For Change opted to go for the no-confidence motion. If the government was as confident as it says it is, surely the PPP would have bitten the bullet and gone to the polls.  The fact that the President opted to prorogue the Parliament is now fuelling the belief that he is afraid.
What is more, at this time there are some damning situations that have developed within the country, most of these things directly attributed to the People’s Progressive Party. The charges of corruption have been myriad; so too have been the accusations of theft of taxpayers’ money.
Just a few weeks ago, Attorney General Anil Nandlall told the nation that he used state funds for a private venture and when the issue came to light he repaid the money. He has not been sanctioned. Then there were the accusations against Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh. He too has been accused of spending taxpayers’ money without the requisite permission of the parliament.
There have been other areas of opposition concern. For example, the government unveiled a host of large scale projects, among them the Marriott Hotel, the Amaila Falls project, the expansion or extension of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport and the Specialty Hospital. The opposition objected to the manner in which these projects were being undertaken and how money was identified.
The government went ahead with the airport expansion project and with the Marriott Hotel project although by the government’s own admission, all the funding has not been provided for either of these. The money had to come from somewhere regardless of the view and determination of the parliamentary opposition not to vote any money.
In short, regardless of its position in the National Assembly the government insisted on operating as though it had a majority.  These are issues that the government would have to defend on the campaign trail. At the same time it must face its supporters on the situation in the sugar and rice industries.
Guyana had an inkling that the government was not prepared to face the polls when it began to pay special interest in the operations of the Guyana Elections Commission. There was a measure of panic because the government anticipated that GECOM was timing its schedule to coincide with the no-confidence vote.
Whatever the case the elections are inevitable as the government’s reaction was in the wake of the proclamation proroguing parliament. It brought out the police in what was described as a demonstration of proactive policing.