[www.inewsguyana.com] – Minister of Agriculture Dr Leslie Ramsammy has noted that Guyana has reached a stage where its politicians are seeking to introduce a new development model of blackmail politics.
The Minister was at the time addressing Region Three residents, at a town hall meeting at the Greenwich Park Primary School on Friday last, aimed at informing and educating the residents about the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLCFT) Bill, which is at a stalemate.
Also present at the meeting were Minister in the Ministry of Finance Juan Edghill and Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall. The Opposition has remained adamant that it will not pass the bill, unless the APNU’s amendments are included, and all its non-assented bills are assented to, and further a commencement order for the local government commission is issued.
The AFC’s position for the passage of the bill was the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission, however, recently the AFC said it wanted the APNU amendments to be included as well.
“How can you blackmail a whole country?” Minister Ramsammy asked. “It is not just being blacklisted, we are being blackmailed and then threatened with being blacklisted and that the politics of APNU and AFC and the people of Guyana must say no,” he said.
“Even if we voted for them, we must tell them we will not allow our country, to be both blackmailed and blacklisted, we ended that in 1992,” he pointed out.
Minister Ramsammy noted that the PPPC Government has never attempted such under-handedness. “We are a party that have promoted democracy and we stand for democracy. If the people of this country want to go and vote for whichever party, that is their right, but whoever we voted for when a party takes an anti-country position and more importantly an anti-people position then we must stand in solidarity,” he said.
As part as government’s effort to keep the ordinary citizens abreast with the status of the bill, the town hall meetings are being held across the country. Meetings have since been held in New Amsterdam, Bartica and Linden, Lusignan, Mahaica and Anna Regina.
