Parliament Back: What’s Expected

By GHK Lall- The doors of Guyana’s Parliament are about to be flung wide open. To a point, really. Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Azruddin Mohamed could contribute to the ambience by staying away. The Speaker, the PPP Govt, maybe even the PNC would be happy. All rise. Bow respectfully. Speaker Nadir’s court is in session. No raised voices allowed. No pushy motions, questions, dare show their divisive faces. Denied. Will this still be the way on the White people influenced reopening of Guyana’s parliament? Sorry, Cde Texeira, the diplomats made that happen. U.S. Governor-General of the Philippines, afterward President Howard Taft had it right: ‘got to lookout for the little brown brothers.

Diplomats with names like A, B, C, EU worked to get parliament reopened. Thanks for efforts. It would be unconscionable-indeed, unprecedented [even in Guyana]-for foreign diplomats to be so audacious, so meddlesome, as to tell the Speaker how he must conduct the business of parliament. The Speaker has help. The Deputy Speaker jetted to Canada for insights on how a true parliamentary democracy works. From Friday June 5 will impress (or repress) on what he absorbed, what will guide he and his senior to be about democracy’s norms. Opposing voices heard. The will of the people expressed. Or, time will reinforce whether the all-expenses paid trip was just another junket to remind later who he owes, and how he must return the favor for his sensitive placement.

Speaker Nadir has the opportunity for a new beginning. He can be a parliamentary leader whose quality, decisions, are laced with such wisdom that he would stand in contrast to the meaning of his surname, as translated in dictionaries. Good behavior by all is mandatory. The issues are bigger than all of them put together. And broader than those who reflect the effects of good oil living. There’s the Wales Gas-to-Energy. Apologies, Mr. Speaker, but I cannot abandon duty to the Guyanese people. It must be tabled, ventilated fully, so that all Guyanese have some appreciation of what they are getting for GY$500 billion.

Half a trillion Guyana dollars (US$2 billion plus the spare change flung at Lindsayca-CH4 and the fellows working hard for their millions). Mr. Speaker: give Guyanese something to hold onto. They have little to stand on across this country. Floodwaters floored them: footing treacherous; homes reduced to swamps; minds reeling from yet another battering. Guyanese shouldn’t be going through any of that, Mr. Speaker (and Mr. Minister of Drains-Irrigation). The pipeline to Wales and the plants from Lindsayca-CH4 grabbed US$2 billion plus. The people need to know. Drains and such collected a cool $240 billion plus and the most that citizens got was entertainment with a shovel as the main instrument.

Parliament is the laboratory, where these issues must be examined; enjoy the widest latitude for open dissection and the freest discussion. Parliament has been closed for so long, members had an unearned and extended holiday. It’s time for MPs to earn their money, pay back their debts to Guyanese. They should be on the floor making their points, their presence felt. I urge the Speaker to ban absences and late arrivals. Send a message. Set standards. Manzoor is in charge, and a harsh lesson for any boor. Guyanese have to start some place. So, why not parliament, with Speaker Nadir cracking the whip?

Alongside electricity and floods, I attach other motions. Guyana’s border soldiers shot at repeatedly. Guyanese hurting grievously from a killer cost-of-living environment. I holler from now about what those floods will do to food prices. Oh Gawd! Give a little loving to Guyanese. Tek bak de ile. Give them a different kind of loving. Me, I’m expecting a different Speaker Nadir. Not a PPP or Ali Nadir. But a Nadir who’s about genuine parliamentary democracy, and marching to One People, One Nation, Once Destiny. I’m so desperate, I’ll take One Guyana. For now, only. The diplomats did their part. The rest is in the hands of this great Guyanese.