IF most Guyanese were not convinced, by the hogging of the Speaker/Deputy posts; the stalling of the Amaila Hydro project; the Specialty Hospital or the CJIA expansion project, that the Opposition is bent on partisan and brinksmanship politics rather than the development of the country, surely their delaying antics on the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLCFT) legislation to be amended, should do so.The Opposition cannot be unaware of the implications of the passage of this important piece of legislation not meeting the November 18 deadline.
And if they are unaware, then they are unfit to be in Parliament, and should not ever dream of being in government.
But even if they are unaware of the severe repercussions this would have on the national economy and people of Guyana, they should know because the government on several occasions, in and out of Parliament, has clearly outlined them in simple language.
Having failed to meet an earlier deadline for the passage of the legislation because of the delaying tactics of the Opposition, the government was forced to request an extension of time. Fortunately, a new deadline of November 18 was granted, but unfortunately it seems that this new deadline will also not be met again because of the Opposition’s foot-dragging game.
These delaying tactics were again exposed on Monday when Chairperson of  the Parliamentary Special Select Committee on the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (amendment) Bill, Ms Gail Teixeira, in a statement to the media related that she was informed that very morning by Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly and member of the said Committee, Mrs. Deborah Backer, that she had to attend a meeting with the Leader of the Opposition and APNU Member of Parliament (MP) Joseph Harmon, and was therefore asking that the scheduled parliamentary committee meeting be postponed and also advised that Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC) Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan would “probably not attend.”
Ms. Teixeira disclosed that she advised the Deputy Speaker that she would have to consult with the members on the government side on this request.
“I also asked if in requesting a postponement they were suggesting another day this week for the Committee to meet. To which, Mrs. Backer stated that they were thinking of next Monday, October 28, 2013!” she stated.
Teixeira explained that she responded that the government side would not agree to next week as the Committee must meet this week. As such, she asked for their views on meeting on Tuesday or Wednesday (yesterday or today).
“I committed to consult the government members as to the request for the postponement and a new date for the committee to meet. Mrs. Backer committed to discuss the dates I proposed with the Opposition members,” she informed
What is of great pertinence too is that it was the APNU members who set the date of the Committee meeting for October 21, at the October 14 meeting, despite efforts by Ms Teixeira as chairperson to convince them to meet earlier on October 17and 18.
The question that immediately comes to mind is which patriotic person or political party would sacrifice a meeting of such grave national importance for a meeting which obviously could have been rescheduled. Or have we gone back to the days of the paramountcy of the party?
But as the old Guyanese saying goes: “Wha yuh can see in daylight, you nah ga fuh geh torchlight for look fa.”
The tactics of the Opposition are clear as daylight. It is one of using its combined one-seat majority to hold the government and people of this country to ransom and hope that by doing so the government would crawl and beg them for support, but in giving support it will make demands, even if these demands will jeopardise the nation’s well-being, as in this case with the AMLCFT.
In other words, the Opposition wants to use this crucial issue as a bargaining chip. Putting Guyana first is not their kettle of fish.
Assuming the Opposition’s arguments for opposing and stalling the Amaila Hydro Project and, the Specialty Hospital and the CJIA expansion project have some merit, clearly those arguments do not hold any water with respect to the AMLCFT, which has very far-reaching, adverse consequences on all the people of Guyana, including the Opposition and its supporters.
This AMLCFT scenario reminds one of the history of the Labour Relations Bill which was not opposed in principle, but was used as the ‘occasion’ for the war, rather than the ‘cause’ of the war.
So the agenda of the Opposition is clear. The ball is in the court of the Guyanese people to thwart that pernicious agenda.

extracted from the Guyanachronicle