Home Features MPs must be held liable for misrepresenting facts and misinforming the nation
The Honorable Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has called on the Minister of Governance and Parliamentary Affairs to move a motion to refer MP David Patterson to the Privileges Committee. We commend the VP. The Vice President rightfully rebuked the AFC MP David Patterson, who is the spokesperson for APNU/AFC on OIL and GAS in Parliament, and who himself is a former senior minister in the APNU/AFC Government between 2015 and 2020. The VP rebuked Patterson for misrepresentation and misinformation peddled in Parliament. Patterson claimed he has a report that showed the price per kilowatt hour of energy from the Amaila Falls Hydroelectric project would be 26 cents and 30 cents.
We are not certain if Patterson claimed that there is an IDB or a Government of Norway report with that information. While making the statement as fact, he never produced the report, or cited the report. The Speaker of the House should have requested then and there that Paterson refer to his source. The fact is that the IDB has always supported the project, and that the IDB report on the project confirmed a cost of about 10 cents. The VP and the PPP Government have previously released the IDB report. The report is available to anyone, and is part of the parliamentary record. Where Patterson got his information from is a mystery. He has an obligation to the Guyanese people to release the report that he has that provides that information. Until he does, Parliament should proceed to censure him. We must send a serious signal to MPs that they have a responsibility to tell the truth, and not make up fake information. Until he produces the source of his information, it remains fake information.
Patterson also claimed that the APNU/AFC Government is not responsible for blocking the project. There is no way to sugarcoat this misinformation. The AFC MP was deliberately hoodwinking the Guyanese people, taking for granted that the Guyanese people have a short memory or that they are stupid. The records of Parliament are available to show that Patterson voted with his APNU/AFC colleagues in 2015, when they were the Government, to discontinue the project. They voted, all thirty-three APNU/AFC MPs in parliament, in 2015 to block the project. He claimed that the action of the then APNU/AFC Government was motivated by the non-support for the project by the IDB and the Government of Norway. In fact, the IDB provided vital financial support for the project to move forward. In fact, the Government of Norway provided $US80M to the IDB for funding initial aspects of the project. Why would these foreign entities provide significant funding for a project they did not support? Clearly, blatantly, Patterson was misinforming the Parliament and the Guyanese people. It is in this context that Ruminations support the VP in his call for action, and we urge the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs to move swiftly for Patterson to appear in front of the Privileges Committee.
Misrepresentations and misinformation by MPs must not be tolerated. The Guyanese people must hold MPs accountable for what they say in Parliament. We live in a democracy, where free speech is a non-negotiable element of our freedom and democratic rights, but free speech does not confer on any person the right to misrepresent facts and to misinform people. This is especially true of our MPs, particularly when they speak in Parliament. This is especially true today, because when MPs speak in Parliament today, they actually speak to the nation. Unfortunately, more and more, MPs are becoming reckless with their propensity for misrepresentation and misinformation. What is worse, some commentators outside of Parliament now seem to take their cue from Parliament and the MPs as they seek to outshine the MPs in the misinformation and misrepresentation game. It is truly an insult to decent citizens in our country.
MP Patterson is not the only one. Take the MP who last year claimed that the APNU/AFC Government never stopped the Because We Care cash grant for children. She claimed that the PPP had introduced the cash grant for school children as a one-off payment in 2014. That was a blatant misinformation that falls in the category of an “L” word. The PPP had promised to take the cash grant to $50,000 per child when they introduced it in 2014. The MP was engaged in reckless misinformation.
The reckless habit of misrepresentation and misinformation has been taken up by others.
When KN informed the nation that EXXON would be selling our gas to us to recover their investment in the gas-to-shore project and to profit from it, they did not tell the full story. They did not say that, in the initial period, the GoG would pay for the amount of gas generated until the cost of the pipeline is recovered, and then the GoG would not pay a cent for gas. There is nothing illegal or unethical or immoral in EXXON recovering its investment for the gas-to-shore project.
When KN accuse the VP of misinformation by saying that the Government has allocated funds in Budget 2023 for the project, and that it is the GOG, and not EXXON, investing money, they knew that the story was not accurate. The truth is that money is allocated to pay for the initial gas production until EXXON recovers its investment. The people of Guyana deserve the truth, and we must demand accountability from MPs and our media.