With his Government under intense regional and international pressure, Alliance For Change (AFC) Chairman Raphael Trotman is now under fire for recent comments he made in which he told Caribbean Community (Caricom) member states to “stay out” of Guyana’s business.
Trotman made these comments on Saturday, but they were quickly denounced by political commentator and Attorney-at-Law Christopher Ram.
In a letter on Sunday, Ram reminded the de facto Natural Resources Minister of the importance of regional integration and moreover the important role these islands play in the region.
Ram also reminded Trotman that it was President David Granger himself who described Caricom as the most legitimate interlocutors in Guyana’s election controversy. Ram also pointed out that two of the three members of the Caricom recount observation team come from small islands.
“Trotman must know that whether big or small, member states of Caricom all have equal
standing and a single vote when it comes to voting. The same as with voting in the General Assembly of the United Nations. His statement is insulting not only to all members of Caricom but, at this particular moment, to St Vincent and the Grenadines which has just assumed the Chairmanship of Caricom.”
“Such undeveloped views of leading politicians of one country about other countries serve to undermine not only the cooperation and unity of our region but our own interest as well. Trotman ought to know that in seeking protection for our rice, sugar and other products under the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) it is those very countries whose support we will need,” Ram said.
Ram also laid into Trotman’s defence of Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield’s fraudulent report, which he submitted to Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh, on Saturday.
While Trotman believed that the Representation of the People Act would not allow Singh to overturn the report, Ram warned Trotman that laws must be read in their entirety and not in a vacuum.
He also reminded Trotman that the so-called constitutional crisis Guyana is in is all A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change’s doing.
“In any case, after the pain through which the APNU+AFC is putting Guyanese, the likelihood of the imposition of sanctions on Guyana, the potential for the embarrassment they are causing Caricom, and the setback for democracy for the wider community of nations, Granger, Harmon and Volda Lawrence, among others, are undeserving of trust by anyone or the engagement in any conversation. The “constitutional crisis” Trotman refers to has arisen from the unwillingness to play by the rules of democracy. It is that simple,” Ram said.
According to a report in sections of the media, Trotman on Saturday told Caribbean island nations to keep out of Guyana’s business and allow Guyanese to solve their own problems.
According to Trotman, such islands would not be able to understand Guyana.
