The PPP-C is testing the tolerance of the Guyanese people

By Dominic Gaskin

The right to govern this country derives from the laws of this country and from the results of periodic elections by the

Dominic Gaskin

people of this country. The Constitution of the Republic of Guyana sets out the powers of the President and his cabinet as well as those of the National Assembly. The elections that allow the PPP-C to be the current Government of Guyana are the elections of 2011, which happen to be the same elections that determined the current composition of the National Assembly. The rules of the game have not changed in recent times, however, the actions and attitudes of the most senior members of the PPP-C Administration during its current term of office suggest that they are in possession of another set of rules with which they would like the nation to play along. For starters, they seem to be labouring under the misconception that the results of previously held elections are somehow relevant to the current dispensation. This is evident in their refusal to accept that the 48% of the votes which their party managed to acquire at the 2011 elections is simply not enough to give it its way in the National Assembly. They appear to be conferring upon themselves a superiority based on having held office for such a long time – as if their special rules allow an offset of the latest election results with previous better scores in order to override the reality of their situation. They also seem to believe that an opposition position carried by a majority in the National Assembly has no validity, and therefore the President need not assent to any opposition bills and the government need not comply with any opposition motions – to heck with the people’s representatives. They see no need to hold local government elections since their 48% of the national vote is clearly a mandate to impose their will upon every single community in the country. This is not even a contentious issue as far as they are concerned since, no less a person than the President himself has read the mood of the people, and pronounced that Guyanese people are not yet ready to choose their local representatives. They have literally told the nation that they will not establish the constitutionally-required Public Procurement Commission because they are not happy with the specific provisions of its governing act. By their rules perhaps this is okay. It doesn’t seem to have dawned upon them that the electorate has not given them enough votes to alter the provisions of the Act and therefore, what is required of them is they establish this commission regardless of how inconvenient they consider it to be. Their rules also completely do away with the explicit directions regarding withdrawals from Guyana’s Consolidated Fund, enshrined in our Constitution. These directions require Parliamentary appropriation of all public spending and specifically prohibit any withdrawals outside of the three provisions contained in Article 217(1). The PPP-C rule book waives this bothersome requirement that gives those meddlesome representatives of that troublesome majority of the Guyanese electorate the power to authorize public spending. This deliberate and blatant violation of our Constitution and of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act is all perfectly permissible under the new rules. Even sweeter is the specific prohibition under PPP-C rules for any government officials to be investigated by the Police. The Guyana Police Force, after all, exists to serve the ruling party and therefore cannot be poking its nose into its masters’ affairs. The problem for the PPP-C is that by subordinating the Constitution to its own struggle to retain control and remain in power, it has branded itself a bootleg government, no different from the fake perfumes and bogus footwear that are being sold nationwide. No different either from the last government to impose itself on our country against the wishes of the majority of our citizens. The Alliance For Change (AFC) will not stand by idly and allow the population of our country to be swindled by the made-up rules of a Government desperate to extend its powers beyond the limits of its popularity. The AFC has given its full support to the motion to have the Minister of Finance placed before the Privileges Committee of the National Assembly for exceeding the authority granted to him by the Assembly to spend the people’s money for the current financial year. The Leader of the AFC has also filed a complaint with the Guyana Police Force (GPF) against the Minister of Finance and other officials for the misuse of public moneys. The sudden appointment of a legal advisor to the GPF is clearly a move by the Government to impede any investigation into this matter and it would hardly be surprising if the advice given to the police follows the logic coming out of the Office of the President. There is no obligation on the part of the Commissioner of Police to act on the basis of any legal advice provided by an imposed advisor. Additionally, the Constitution provides for the resignation of the President and his cabinet on a vote of no-confidence against his government by a majority in the National Assembly, with elections to be held within ninety days. To allow the Government to continue to display such a vulgar contempt for the National Assembly, and the will of the majority of the Guyanese people which it represents, is simply not an option for the AFC. The Party has initiated this approach on behalf of all right–thinking Guyanese who value our laws and institutions and find it unacceptable that any government (minority or majority) should consider itself above the law. By now it should be clear to the entire nation that this Government has no desire to hold local government elections as required by law. However the prospect of a vote of no-confidence coming its way may very well trigger a sudden change of heart. The schemers in Robb Street have already reasoned that they can survive a defeat in Local Government Elections, but not in national elections, and may be desperately banking on the hope that the opposition may not proceed with a no-confidence motion if it means postponement of the long anticipated Local Government Elections. Such a move will fool no one. The Guyanese public has had its tolerance severely tested by a Government that believes it has some special right to carry out its job as it pleases while ignoring constitutional requirements. The majority of the population has grown tired of the repeated outrageous assertions and skewed logic by government officials, broadcast and printed by the shameless state media that has been hijacked by the PPP-C. At the end of the day the Government is accountable to the people of this country and the AFC will ensure that the people are given every opportunity to wrest this country and its communities from the claws of an unpopular government.