Appearing this evening on the National Communications Network (NCN) programme ‘The 10^th Parliament: The Way Forward’, Dr Luncheon stated that, “The decision to prorogue the 10^th parliament, aroused the worst out of them, most of what as demonstrated by members of the opposition we must concede it was not unexpected, indeed they would try to characterise what the president did in the most demonic way and suggest it’s illegal,” Dr. Luncheon said.

Also appearing on the panel were Culture Youth and Sport Minister Dr. Frank Anthony and PPP/C Parliamentarian Dr. Vindhya Persaud.

The ironic thing, Dr. Luncheon stated is the fact that many of the persons who are propagating the line that the decision is illegal are all well learned in the legal fraternity and should know the constitution and what it says about prorogation.

“The critical thing about it is that half of these people who have contributed to this hype, many of them are lawyers and literate, and have experience to the issue of prorogation.”  Hence, Dr. Luncheon called on Guyanese to see the opposition’s reaction to the president’s decision as no surprise, but a reaction from a spurned opposition.

The Cabinet Secretary added that it is obvious that it is going to take some time for the significance of the president’s intervention to sink in, and for a more matured perspective to be adopted by the parliamentary opposition.

Dr. Anthony also supported Dr. Luncheon’s position as he noted the legitimacy of the President’s decision, saying it is the same constitution that afforded the AFC to table a no-confidence motion.

Dr. Persaud expressed similar sentiments, noting that the legitimacy of the decision cannot be over emphasised. “Guyana is not unique to this. In Canada this was done, one of the things we ought to do, we all need to understand that it is a constitutional measure.”

Given its legitimacy, Dr. Persaud said the proclamation should not have derived the kind of response it has, as she too stressed the point that the utterances of the opposition parties are not surprising.

Further she called on the senior parliamentarians to give guidance to the younger ones who may not know of this option or to those who are pretending not to. She added that this period should be seen as one for open dialogue which the administration is open to as it has always been.

Meanwhile speaking of what he deems as irresponsible statements made by members of the opposition during an illegal sitting in the Parliament chambers on Monday following the prorogation, Dr. Luncheon said, “It’s good that they get out the venom, getting it out is good to one’s mental health. I despair this reaction, but I want to recognise its immediacy, what they said was nonsense from the point of view that they all know better.”

However, the Cabinet Secretary questioned how long will the combined opposition continue with their pretence game before making the decision to engage in constructive engagement.

“I’m saying to the Guyanese don’t invest value beyond this hype, my concern is, you have a collection of representatives of the people, how long would this pretence game continue? How long do we anticipate for them to say that yes we say what we needed to say and we can engage constructively with the government?”

He added that anyone would be foolhardy not to see this coming as it was hinted before in the President’s November 4 address to the nation, and clearly since the combined opposition left the president with no other option.

“I don’t believe that there was any possibility that the president in his judgement could not come to any other conclusion. Nothing was said that left the door open, that the November 10^th session was more than a humiliation exercise, that is what the president grappled with and considered and made his decision.”

Meanwhile the panel further conceded that the threats made by some members of the opposition, as well as some statements uttered were all irresponsible.

Dr. Persaud said “We are in a climate where much of the world is against violence.  Emotions can be fuelled by irresponsible statements; we do not want violence, we can discuss in an intelligent way.” 

According to her, when statements of a violent nature are made, they send strong messages to people. She reiterated the fact that the Parliament provides a forum to debate in the best interest of the country, and to prorogue in the present circumstance, provides a perfect opportunity for meaningful dialogue.

Dr. Anthony deemed the utterances as irresponsible and geared to incite violence, but he lauded the citizens who have since shown more maturity than some of their elected leaders.

“While those leaders were being irresponsible I’m glad that the Guyanese people have acted more responsibly, they have shown that they want to see more mature politics. We have to thank the Guyanese people for their responsibility.”

Also on the topic, Dr. Luncheon said based on the responses of the Guyanese population, there is no doubt that there may have been a time when statements of that sort may have led to the worst possible outcome.

“I think many of us here remember earlier of the 1990s, 2000s and the exhortations that were made, and that were followed to burning in the streets, to engage in civil disobedience what we have seen so far is the maturity of the listeners even the constituency of the opposition.”

Notably the Cabinet Secretary said the people have shown that they are prepared to be supportive in the parliament and surrounding, but totally unprepared to listen to the rhetoric and act.

“Based on security, we have been looking at instances to make pronouncements on what impact those statements by the opposition, what impact they have had, not only on the immediate congregation, but this time around I must admit it seems as if their exhortations have fallen on deaf ears, it’s a sign of maturity.”

The Cabinet Secretary called on Guyanese to continue to ignore the calls by those irresponsible leaders, but instead to urge their leaders to put their interest at the forefront and have meaningful engagement.

Meanwhile several key stakeholders whom the Head of State have been engaging have been calling on the opposition to put their differences aside and engage the government with the aim of taking Guyana forward.