Former US congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in her column for the Orlando Sentinel said on Tuesday that following the series of appeals and months of legal battles following the passage of the No-Confidence Motion in December 2018, setting the stage for future elections, hopefully, a date will be set soon.
Ros-Lehtinen, a politician and lobbyist from Miami, Florida, in her column said that Guyana has roughly the population of her former congressional district, but noted that the size of the country’s population should not fool anyone.
“Today it (Guyana) is on the verge of an economic and cultural boom. Guyana’s offshore shelf is home to massive energy reserves, as ExxonMobil discovered in 2015. Thirteen additional strikes later, Guyana looks poised to become one of the world’s largest oil producers per capita by mid-2020. Some experts expect Guyana to generate up to $5 billion in production revenues by that time, more than tripling its GDP,” the former Congresswoman said in her column.
She noted that it has been a long road for Guyana, adding that prior to the major discovery, oil exploration had come up blank again and again.
“The situation was so dire that in 2014, Royal Dutch Shell sold off its acreage for $1. The streak of finds seems to suggest huge potential for future prosperity in the small nation. Nothing is certain, however, as development is taking place alongside a fractious and protracted political battle which threatens to stall the country’s progress”.
She added that in December of 2018, the country’s governing coalition — led by President David Granger — lost a vote of no-confidence in the National Assembly. After a series of appeals and months of legal battles, the Caribbean Court of Justice made a final ruling in July that the no-confidence vote was valid, setting the stage for future elections. Hopefully, a date will be set soon.
“As the campaign gets underway, I urge both major political parties in Guyana to seize this opportunity to lay out a bold vision for the future. The Guyanese people want reforms to education, infrastructure and healthcare. Additional reforms to increase transparency and the effective management of energy revenues will also be key,” Ros-Lehtinen added.
While the future is Guyana’s to decide, the US and its regional partners have a role to play as well, she added, pointing that “I know our Guyanese-American communities are up to the challenge. It’s in everyone’s interests to help build a strong, prosperous Guyana where rule of law, good governance, and opportunity shine as a beacon throughout the region,” US Congresswoman added.
Ros-Lehtinen represented the 27th District of Florida in Congress from 1989 to 2019. By the end of her tenure, she was the most senior US representative from Florida.
