Shuman – disrespectful and uninformed

Dear Editor,

I was horrified to hear a sitting Member of Parliament refer to his fellow opposition Members of Parliament and former government ministers as man’s best friend who would run behind cars making loud noises. This, not subtle reference to opposition M.Ps and former government ministers as dogs was, for some reason missed by the speaker.

That there was no rebuke, from the speaker or any other M.P suggests that, our parliamentary standards have changed for the worse. This M.P –Shuman- in his presentation made the point that, citizens “look up” to parliamentarians. If, therefore, his is the standard set for the citizenry, we are obviously in trouble.

Mr. Shuman accused the APNU+AFC government, specifically its four (4) Indigenous ministers of failing to take the Upper Mazaruni land case to the cabinet.

This case has, for the past twenty-three (23) years been engaging the High Court. It has not yet been determined. In 2015 Vice President Sydney Allicock as he then was, offered to open a conversation on the matter of land titling with the Upper Mazaruni District Council. The leaders, as is their right, in responding to the offer of talks, made it clear that, they preferred to await the determination of their court application.

This M.P in his address to the National Assembly of the Parliament of Guyana openly declared a striking lack of knowledge of a very important Indigenous Rights issue. Further, he was critical of the Granger Administration for not allowing the Executive, at the level of Cabinet, to interfere with the work of the Judiciary! At minimum, one expects a parliamentarian to understand and respect the doctrine of the separation of powers.

Yours faithfully,
Mervyn Williams