Opposition toying with welfare of this nation

THE Opposition, not surprisingly, voted against the Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Bill in the National Assembly on Thursday, further placing Guyana in a most precarious position with looming economic sanctions dangling over our country like the “Sword of Damocles”.

Attorney General Anil Nandlall, in moving the third reading of the AML/CFT (amendment) Bill, made a fruitless plea to the Opposition to look at the bigger picture on this issue of great national interest. This was expected because from the inception of the controversy, the Opposition never seemed interested in the bigger picture. On the contrary, they were more interested in using it to hold the government to ransom in the furtherance of their narrow and selfish political agenda.
Any objective observer will notice this because the Opposition just kept shifting the goalposts and finding different excuses not to support the Bill.
The most recent excuse by the Opposition that the Bill needs to be strengthened is a lame one, as they had adequate time and opportunities to articulate their concerns and make proposed changes.
So for them to come now and talk about having a strengthened piece of legislation is balderdash which is not fooling anyone except themselves.
In any case, the fundamental issue at this time is for Guyana to meet the November 18 deadline to prevent economic sanctions. There is nothing that prevents the Opposition from proposing further amendments to the legislation. And therefore logic, reasoning, good sense and the interest of the nation should dictate that the Bill be passed as it is. Unfortunately, the Opposition’s actions are not dictated by these factors, and consequently the entire Guyanese nation may have to endure suffering.
The Opposition has not only demonstrated its arrogance and ‘pig-headedness’ by voting against the Bill, as earlier in the National Assembly it showed scorn and contempt for a petition submitted by a well respected representative of the Guyanese business community, such as the Private Sector Commission (PSC) when it voted against the motion to have the petition read in the House.
It is beyond the imagination that the Opposition would have described the motion as “malicious, vexatious, ignorant and inaccurate.”
This is a most savage and unwarranted attack on such a prestigious organisation that has made a significant contribution to the socio-economic development of this country. In fact, the PSC is the umbrella organisation of a sector that is universally accepted as the “engine of growth.”
But we know why the Opposition took this stance. They took this stance because the petition urged that the Bill be passed in the national interest, but the national interest contradicts the interest of the Opposition; and therefore it is inevitable that they would launch a scathing attack on the petition as that is the treatment they gave to anyone or any organisation which advocates positions that run counter to their narrow and selfish political interests and agenda.
One could rest assured that if the petition were anti-government and anti-national in interest and nature, the Opposition would have gleefully and unhesitatingly supported the motion to have it read in the House.
It is clear from the actions and behaviour of the Opposition that the issue is not about the content and structure of the Bill, rather, they intend to engineer a crisis and then blame the government for it. At the same time, they are hoping to use the situation as a bargaining chip to extract huge concessions from the government. In other words, they are toying with the welfare of this nation.
Therefore, those who voted for the Opposition should rethink as to whether they made the right choice.