Times Notebook is concerned that opposition politicians have descended into blackmail politics in a treacherous political agenda designed to grab power through the backdoor.
The opposition leader is blackmailing the president when he insists that he will not support the appointments of the acting chief justice and the acting chancellor of the judiciary.
It is blackmail politics intended to intimidate the chief justice and the chancellor who have proven that they would make judgments in accordance with the law.
Blackmail politics was used by the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) against the home affairs minister in 2013. They voted against a bill to eliminate illegal and illicit arms and ammunition into the country.
By rejecting the bill APNU and the AFC allowed criminals access to illegal and illicit arms and ammunition that kill people daily in our country. The Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) was brought to a halt because APNU and the AFC did not want a particular person to be on the ERC.
On February 10, Basil Williams announced that if roads in “their communities” are not in the budget, they will cut the budget when it is presented in Parliament. We thought that politicians from any party would want development in every community. What does a politician mean by “our people”? Will the opposition reject the notion that there are people in Guyana who are not “their people”?
Violent protests
The use of violent protests is one of the oldest forms of blackmail politics. The Linden protest in 2012 was nothing less than blackmail politics to destabilise the country. Miners and foresters could not do their business because of the violent blocking off of Linden in 2012.
This is not dissimilar to the tactics promoted by the People’s National Congress (PNC) and the United Force (UF) in the early 1960s when they promoted violent protests in Georgetown and other parts of Guyana.
The fiasco surrounding the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Amendment Bill is a good example of blackmail politics practised by APNU and AFC. Guyana will face treacherous consequences if it is blacklisted.
After 10 months, APNU could not tell the country what amendments it wanted in order to pass the AML/CFT Bill. Yet, at the last moment before Parliament on February 10, APNU proposed amendments.
Among the amendments APNU wants is to give power to the police to stop and seize money from citizens or visitors if that amount is more than Gy$2 million. Does any citizen in Guyana, regardless of which political party you support, want this power in the police?
It is a strategy by APNU and the AFC to use blackmail every time in order to create as much pain for our people and country so that they could grab power through the backdoor.
PPC
AFC leaders have said from the beginning that they have no objection against the present bill. Yet, in the worst example of blackmail politics, they have tied their support in Parliament to the appointment of the Public Procurement Commission (PPC).
The AFC leaders are guilty of blackmail politics because they are part of a mechanism in Parliament that must nominate the members of the PPC for the president to appoint. Can the AFC demonstrate that those nominees have been submitted for appointment?
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC), made up of a majority of APNU and AFC members, agreed to a public advertisement for persons to be recommended or for persons to apply to be possible nominees for the PPC, and the deadline for submissions was extended. The PAC will consider these names and then make nominations from among these persons to be submitted to the president.
The president is still waiting on Parliament, through the PAC, to submit these names to him in order for him to appoint the PPC. Yet the AFC insists that the president must name the commission now before supporting the AML/CFT.
Narrow political agendas
Clearly, these political parties pursue narrow political agendas to defer, reduce, and destroy development in Guyana. The only motivation of APNU, AFC and their partners is to subvert development. The stubborn use of blackmail politics by APNU and AFC is an insult and an assault on the people of Guyana.
In Belize where the AML/CFT Bill can harm their off-shore banking industry, Belizean politicians came together to pass the bill, because they know the consequences would be far worse than any impact on the off-shore banking industry.
If our politicians cannot be patriotic and do the right thing for our country, Times Notebook urges the people of Guyana to stand in solidarity to protect the interest of our country by rejecting blackmail politics.
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