Dear Editor
A headline and an article in one of the newspapers on Saturday September 5th triggered a response by newly elected Opposition Leader, Mr. Harmon, on behalf of the APNU+AFC Coalition. Ironically it was the same day that yet another political party withdrew from the APNU, now reduced to the PNC and two non-existent parties- National Front Alliance and the Guyana Action Party ( neither existed even before the 2015 elections) -and the badly battered AFC.
The APNUAFC Coalition statement by Mr. Harmon appears to be premature and precipitous.
Firstly, let me state that there are over 100 boards to be appointed and only 5 so far have been appointed by the new government. In the interest of inclusivity and participatory democracy, these five boards include members of the new political parties, civil society as well as individuals who have supported the PNC. This trend will continue as other boards are appointed.
Let me say that the supporters of the PNC/APNU/AFC Coalition deserve to be represented and included at all levels of society, and, they will be,as the PPPC government restores political and economic stability and rolls out its transformative projects to put Guyana back on track for all Guyanese.
When Mr. Harmon asserted that “Where the law does not specify Opposition participation, the Government is obliged to include the Opposition in the interest of transparency and accountability…”, he seems to have conveniently forgotten that boards were appointed by his government as late as July 2020 for the next 3 years. This was after the results of the recount on June 9 2020 were known that the PPP/C had won the elections. Wasn’t this a willful and deliberate move to undermine the new government with boards that were overwhelming stacked with APNUAFC activists and supporters?
Inexplicably Mr. Harmon’s thought processes did an illogical leap to interpret my comments, as reported by the SN reporter, to mean that where the law requires the Opposition representatives to sit on a board that the PPPC would not comply. Further, he went on to state that “it would mean that it, the illegitimate PPP, can ignore statutory demands of mutual agreement and proceed to unilaterally appoint a substantive Chancellor, Chief Justice and a new Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission.”
That is sheer mischief to mislead; Mr. Harmon needs to be reminded that as the Opposition Leader he now holds a constitutional position which carries with it greater responsibilities and requires principles and values in the interest of the nation.
The track record of the PPP/C in government demonstrates that it did abide by the constitutional provisions in regards to appointments to constitutional posts as well as where the law required representation by the Parliamentary Opposition, and further the Opposition were offered seats on boards which were not stipulated.
In contrast, I could name example after example where the APNUAFC government violated these very premises, he, and the APNUAFC Coalition, now vociferously advocate.
They want to forget, and, verily believe that the Guyanese people have also forgotten what the APNUAFC government put them through over the last 5 years, as well as over the last 20 months since the successful passage of the No Confidence Motion, including the long drown period of March 2- August 1, 2020 in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The PNC led APNUAFC Coalition leadership regrettably by its own actions–no one else’s–lost the moral authority to lecture anyone on the law, constitution, and customs and practices with regards to the appointments of boards and appointments to constitutional posts.
Do they believe that the Guyanese people are so fickle as to forget that it is the head of the APNUAFC Coalition, President Granger, that appointed the Chairman of the GECOM in October 2017 in violation of the Guyana Constitution and continued to perpetuate this violation until the Caribbean Court of Justice on June 18th 2019 ruled that the appointment of retired Justice Patterson by the President was flawed and unconstitutional? Furthermore it is the APNUAFC government that holds the record of being a serial offender of violations of the Constitution as adjudicated by the Guyana courts – violation of art 106 no confidence motion, interference in the Public Service Commission and the Police Service Commission, revocation of farmers’ leases, appointment of technocratic ministers in violation of the constitutional provisions from 2015 to 2019 while these Ministers continued in office and received their salaries and benefits even after the court finally ruled in January 2019, to name a few.
Mr. Harmon’s statement that “A government can be illegal and illegitimate as is the one she is a part of,” appears to be a Freudian slip. It is his government that unlawfully did everything possible to remain in government for 14 months after a successful No Confidence Vote in open violation of article 106 of the Constitution. Even more offensive was the repeated attempts to thwart the will of the people and rig the election results to keep them illegitimately in office after March 2, 2020.
This new found “holier than thou” posture of Harmon and other APNU+AFC leaders convinces no one.
During the 11th Parliaments, the PNC treated their coalition partners as appendages and took the majority in the parliamentary committees reducing their partners to “tokens” for appearances sake. This control-freakism was repeated most recently when the PNC/APNU appointed a representative of the WPA without any consultation as they did in 2015 whilst omitting a representative from the faithful Justice For All Party.
During the life of the APNUAFC Coalition government, every single board was dominated by Coalition supporters. For a government that came into office with less than 5000 votes in 2015 the APNUAFC Coalition took 99 % on every board.
The PPPC government is different and will unapologetically include representatives on boards from civil society, political parties, skilled and experienced individuals who reflect the diversity of our nation in keeping with our constitution and in particular article 13.
I continue to espouse that the composition of the Parliamentary Opposition post 2020 elections is vastly changed; the political landscape has also vastly changed. The APNUAFC Coalition has to adjust to sharing political space with the newer smaller parties and civil society who showed their resolve to protect democracy when Guyana was under threat.
Regrettably, thus far, the APNUAFC Coalition leaders appear to still be stuck in a time warped mindset unable to retrieve themselves.
Regards
Gail Teixeira
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs
