“AFC is an organization of bitterness” – Lumumba; Time is not right for elections

By Fareeza Haniff

[www.inewsguyana.com] –Presidential Advisor on  Community Development and PPP Parliamentarian, Odinga Lumumba believes that the minority opposition Party – Alliance for Change (AFC) is a party of bitterness.

Lumumba made the remarks on the radio programme ‘Hard Talk’, 90.1FM in direct response to the Party’s threat of tabling a no confidence motion against the Donald Ramotar administration.

AFC’s Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan and Executive Member, Moses Nagamootoo were once party members of the current People’s Progressive Party government.

“AFC is an organization of bitterness. These are people who are outcast or were driven out for ideological reasons from the PPP and they are still upset at the PPP and if you listen to them carefully, 90 percent of the time that Moses Nagamootoo or Khemraj Ramjattan speaks about any issue, it’s an attack of ex – President, Bharrat Jagdeo. They see their whole world as cussing President Jagdeo, as opposed to sitting down with the government and with the other Opposition and to come up with a project or a process that can meet the needs of the Guyanese people,” Lumumba said.

If the Opposition passes the ‘no confidence’ motion, it would become a resolution that only the President can act on. According to the constitution, the President and the Cabinet must resign if government is defeated by a majority vote of the elected members of the National Assembly on a vote of confidence.

Once this is done, the Government has three months to remain in office and prepare for elections.

However, Former member of the People’s National Congress Reform [PNC/R], Dr Faith Harding, who was also a guest on the radio programme, does not believe that the environment is right for such elections.

“Snap to me speaks about disorder and that’s a feeling I get from the population. You see chaos in the Parliament and Capital of City. A snap election will just bring that disorder to a higher level so I’m hoping that good sense prevails and we try to bring the society, we bring Guyana to a level of order and that will include holding elections on the date due, where people can prepare, where people can feel a sense of order, not only law and order but social order in their lives. I don’t think they feel it right now,” Dr Harding said.

Lumumba agreed with Harding on this point, as he urged for both Opposition parties [A Partnership for National Unity] to be “more flexible in their relationship with the government so as to allow us to function and wait the full five years to have elections.”

“I am yet to see that relationship of trust and comradery and relying on each other to make concrete decisions for this nation, it doesn’t happen,” the Former PNCR Member said.

She is of the view that there is n trust because of the “hate mentality” between the two sides.

“It goes back to ‘I am the best and you are inferior to me.’ I think too there is a lot of personal feelings involved in a lot of the decision making in our nation, it’s all personalized. Scores have to be settled. You always get the feeling there is a vendetta there.”