Ramotar says opposition missed a golden opportunity to work with Government

President Donald Ramotar says that the combined opposition has missed a golden opportunity to work with his government, choosing instead to flex their muscle via their one-seat majority rather than advancing the country’s development.
“The one-seat majority that the opposition got has made them somewhat intoxicated …,” President Ramotar said in an interview with the media on Wednesday as he reflected on his first year in office following last year’s historic elections.
The selection of both the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Parliament from the opposition and the opposition’s majority control of the Committee of Privileges are regarded by the government side of the House as assaults on the Parliament.
The Gy$192 billion 2012 National Budget lost Gy$20 billion when the opposition majority voted against key government programmes and funds for several agencies including the Low Carbon Development Strategy, the One Laptop Per Family programme, the Office of the President and State Planning, and the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU).
The recent gag motion against Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee and Speaker Raphael Trotman’s ruling to send the matter to the privileges committee were described as a violation of the House’s standing orders.
President Ramotar, who began his term by initiating dialogue with the two opposition parties, said government wanted to collaborate with the opposition to push development.
Negative position
“The government wants to work with the opposition to move our country forward… I think much more could have been accomplished had they not taken such a negative position in the Parliament itself by taking the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker (positions), by trying to control every committee… the hostility that they have taken is unbelievable,” President Ramotar said.
The president, at the opening of the 10th Parliament in February, told members of parliament (MPs) that government will not be held ransom to intractable posturing, and indicated that he would not sign any opposition-piloted legislation that lacks government’s input.
Things turned ugly in late July when a protest against reform of the electricity tariff in Linden ended in the death of three persons, leading to prolonged clashes between police and protesters and the mining town and communities accessed via Linden being cut off. Following a visit to the town by the president and meetings with the opposition and the Region 10 administration at the Office of the President, an independent Commission of Inquiry got under way with highly-qualified jurists from the Caribbean.
During the inquiry, there was the startling revelation by an overseas ballistics expert brought in by the Alliance For Change that the ammunition that killed the three protesters was not that issued by the police.
Within 48 hours of his induction into office, President Ramotar installed a 20-member Cabinet that had 11 new faces and one new ministry responsible for natural resources and the environment.
Interventions
He intervened when the local cricket fraternity was in jeopardy after discrepancies at the level of the Guyana Cricket Board led to a court ruling urging the government to get involved.
An interim management committee led by former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd was set up to manage the affairs of the game, but its work was impeded by de-recognition claims  from the GCB and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), sidelining Guyana from hosting games. The president was also prompted to intervene after pirates attacked fishermen in the Pomeroon River.
The incident caused a large group of fisherfolk from across the country to demand justice and security, and a heightened policing of the riverine areas.
The head-of-state fulfilled his pledge to review the tax system by appointing experts to a panel that will lead the review process, and kept a close eye on developments in the oil exploration sector, visiting offshore operations in March.
At the regional and international levels, President Ramotar delivered debut addresses at the Caricom heads of government meeting and the United Nations General Assembly.
He told reporters Wednesday that the government has accelerated its infrastructure development agenda as promised in the PPP/C Manifesto. Among the infrastructural projects on stream are the Amaila Falls Hydropower project, the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) expansion project, the building of the Marriott Georgetown hotel, and the expansion of the four-lane highway.