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GEORGETOWN, Guyana (GINA) -- Presidential advisor on governance and People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) chief whip, Gail Teixeira, said on Saturday that the opposition’s actions in Guyana’s parliament show a total disregard for custom and practice and convention in parliamentary democracy.

She was at the time speaking on a special programme aired on the National Communications Network along with Minister of Agriculture, Dr Leslie Ramsammy.

Disregard for basic conventions

She explained that, since the commencement of the Tenth Parliament, the two opposition parties, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance for Change (AFC), have attempted in every possible way, to remove and disregard basic conventions that have been practiced in Commonwealth parliaments, even in a situation where the government in office is a minority.

“Neither party in the opposition was individually capable of getting the larger portion of the electorate. Their approach all the time of saying that they are majority and trying to put the government out of government, is a serious breach of what are traditions and basic practices,” Teixeira said.

She said that, at the moment, the parliament is in “uncharted waters”, as the laws and standing orders did not anticipate a situation such as this.

With regard to the argument that 26 plus 7 is greater than 32, which is the number of seats that the government has won, Teixeira claimed that the electorate did not vote for an APNU-AFC coalition.

She said that the Guyanese public will see through the facade in the promises of cooperation that the leaders of both opposition parties made to them.

Speakership

Turning to the attention to the speakership of the House, the chief whip said that, once a person is elected as the Speaker, he /she is expected to be impartial. She recalled that during the tenure of former Speaker, Ralph Ramkarran, members on the government side were upbraided on several occasions.

“No one can accuse the PPP/C’s speakers since 1992 to present, of being unfair. Today we have a Speaker that is the leader of his party… how is he going to balance that?” she questioned.

She said that the government side has and continues to cooperate fully with the opposition; answering any questions that they ask. When the Ninth Parliament ended in September 2011, no question that was asked by the opposition was left unanswered.

Ransom

Minister Ramsammy also described the opposition’s parliamentary behaviour as reckless; noting that it is not about a dispensation of accountability, as over the years, government has had a proven record in this area. this is substantiated by the fact that auditor general reports have been submitted every year that the PPP/C administration has been in office.

“This is a dispensation that is holding the government and people at ransom; their behaviour on Thursday is a continuation of the stance they have taken since the very beginning… there is no such thing as a coalition in our constitution,” Ramsammy said.

He explained that Guyana’s constitution clearly states that the electorate will vote for the membership of parliament (the committees of parliament), on the basis of proportional representation. This means that the party with the highest number of seats will have the largest number of representatives in any committee, unless there is an agreement to the contrary.

“You cannot come and say that there are two parties that the people elected, one called the opposition and other called the government, it does not work that way. However, while it is true that two blocs can come together and vote, it must be based on the principle that the constitution has established,” the agriculture minister said.

Way forward

Teixeira assured that, as the government in office, the PPP/C will continue to use opportunities to engage the APNU and AFC. However, the administration also has its work to carry out in terms of addressing the concerns of the citizenry and to be able to keep the country’s economy as vibrant as it has become.

“The PPP/C government has always been responsible and will continue to be that way in this situation and lead the country as it has been voted to do by the people,” she affirmed.

Ramsammy added that, even though the kind of behaviour that is being displayed by the opposition in parliament is not conducive to development of any kind, focus will continue to be placed on the developmental trajectory that government has embarked on.

“We will continue to work to protect people’s rights and promote their interests on the road to development,” he said.

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