By Kurt Campbell
[www.inewsguyana.com] – General Secretary of the Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Clement Rohee says he is unaware that his party, or members therein had offered A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament (MP) Volda Lawrence any special considerations to break rank with her Party.
Lawrence at the last sitting of the National Assembly (December 12) remained silent (abstained) in the House while voting was ongoing to approve spending for several sectors the opposition had intended to disapprove.
Rohee rejected rumors which suggested that Lawrence ‘broke rank’ with her Party because she had been offered special considerations by member(s) of the PPP. He said it is a serious issue for the APNU and refused to comment further on a matter which he said is surrounded by speculation.
Opposition Leader David Granger had said that his Party will be thoroughly investigating what appears to be a ‘blow off’ at the last minute by Lawrence. The Opposition Leader told reporters that there were plans to vote along specified lines which he said were long standing and based on principles.
Lawrence at the December 12 sitting of the National Assembly stunned the House by refusing to bite with her party against allocations for several sectors.
When the vote was taken, all APNU MPs voted ‘no’ while Lawrence remained quiet (abstained).
Earlier when the vote was being taken for resources for the Specialty Hospital, Lawrence left the National Assembly in haste. Her departure saw both APNU and AFC losing the vote to deny the specialty hospital funds.
However, prior to this Lawrence had voted with her party to refuse funding to the National Communications Network (NCN) and the Government Information Agency (GINA) both of whose allocations were reduced to $1 by the opposition during the 2013 consideration of estimates.
Lawrence in defending her position in one section of the media maintains that she was unwell (hence here untimely departure from the House) and could not vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ while she remained in the House for the remaining period which spanned across two hours.
