Nandlall fires at PNC-led APNU/AFC’s history of unconstitutionality, failure to properly govern

Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, SC, on Friday afternoon stood his ground in the National Assembly, heavily armed with a vivid recount of the tumultuous five-month long 2020 election process, unquestionable statistics, and ingenious wordplay as he fired away at Roysdale Forde, SC ,and the entire APNU/AFC Opposition over its competency, or lack thereof, in the history of governance of the nation – as he drove home his point that the PPP/C Administration is the only organisation deemed so far capable of leading the country and its people to prosperity.

“On this side, we work and we build. On that side, they criticise and they destroy…,” Nandlall boldly told the National Assembly during his contributions to the 2022 Budget debate.
“From 1950 to now…whenever the PPP is in Government, there is economic development, social progress and the rule of law. And when the PPP is out of Government, there is economic stagnation, social decay, and authoritarianism,” he affirmed.

Debunked
Further zoning in on remarks made by Forde, Nandlall debunked claims that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration was responsible for hundreds of extrajudicial killings. In fact, he made reference to investigative journalistic reports published in a local daily which exposed those allegations as untrue.
“I thought they would have graduated from such ignorance. But here again, it’s fresh before us,” Nandlall uttered.
He went on to question, “what is he calling extrajudicial killing? Apparently, any person who died at the hands of the Police is extrajudicial killing and by some somersault of logic, the Government is responsible.”
Nandlall explained that anywhere in the world, there are instances of “police excesses”, but he reasoned that “Government is not responsible for that”.
In fact, the Attorney General relayed statistics from the Guyana Police Force (GPF) which showed that between May 2015 and March 2020, 41 Guyanese died at the hands of law enforcement officials – under the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Administration.
Nandlall reminded of the stories of Lallbachan Bachan who died while in the Suddie lockups in July 2019 and of Kallicharan Saywack, who was found dead in the Sparendaam lockups in January 2019.
“I represented their families. I went to the High Court and I sued the Attorney General for compensation. I didn’t jump on a housetop and tried to make political mileage and treat their tragedy like a political football. I did what the law said. I never accused them of extrajudicial killing. That is how responsible politicians and leaders behave,” the Attorney General posited.

Rule of law
As he continued to correct the record following falsehoods peddled by the Opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) regarding the upholding of the rule of law and democratic principles, the Attorney General wasted no time in reminding of the assault unleashed on the nation in 2020 when attempts were being made to deny the people of their democratically-elected government.
In fact, Nandlall reminded that signs of unconstitutionality were visible long before the 2020 elections fiasco.
“The President himself, Mr [David] Granger led from the front, confiscating rice lands from farmers in Region Five, seizing the Red House from the Cheddi Jagan Research Institute….,” he pointed out.
The Attorney General threatening to kill a judge in open court, the President directing the Police Service Commission to halt promotions…the President threatening the Chairman of the Public Service Commission, who was a member of the Judicial Service Commission to resign or there will be blood on the carpet. Volda Lawrence announcing that they will only hire PNC members.”
The President unilaterally appointing the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission; the President and the Cabinet refusing to resign after a no-confidence motion was passed against them in the National Assembly and they refused to hold elections within three months as directed by the Constitution and then they remained in office unconstitutionally for over a year, illegally plundering the treasury,
And they are accusing us. This thing is being streamed live on television… people of Guyana lived through this… and then they are coming here with a straight face and accused us of violation of the rule of law!”
The Attorney General further reminded, “they tried with Mingo, they failed. They tried with Ulita Moore, they failed. They tried with the recount, they failed. They tried with the Caricom high-level team…they failed. They tried with Lowenfield, they failed. They tried with Misenga Jones, they failed. They tried with Eslyn David, they failed. They tried with the Caribbean Court of Justice, they failed.”
According to Nandlall, during those five months, the world heard the “incoherent submissions” of the “Honourable Mr Forde”, contending that now “he want the people to believe that I borrow his notes”.
Moreover, Nandlall pointed out that for some two decades, the Opposition players spent their time in the ‘Opposition’ and in 2015, the people gave them “a chance” at governance – a opportunity, according to Nandlall, they squandered.

Budget 2022
Meanwhile, the Attorney General’s presentation saw loud praise for the whopping $552 billion 2022 Budget, which he emphasised “creates the foundation and structure upon which the edifice of modern Guyana will be constructed”.
Responding to criticisms expressed and questions posed by the Opposition regarding lack of opportunities in the fiscal plan, Nandlall contended that, “the real question is, “Do we have the capacity to meet the demands of the tens of thousands of jobs that are likely to be created by the mere expenditure of the monies in this budget? Do we have the capacity to access the construction and building materials that would be required for the successful execution of this budget? Do we have the level of skilled personnel. the type pf equipment, plant and machinery and the requisite skillset that would be needed…?” These are the pertinent questions that right-thinking Guyanese are asking.”
He noted too that this did not include the explosion expected from the Private Sector.
Touching on concerns expressed regarding the spending of the oil funds this year, Nandlall reiterated that the Opposition would have the opportunity to interrogate the spending of “every single cent” – in a platform that will be livestreamed for the world to see.
This, he said, is enough to halt the baseless allegations of ‘thievery and corruption’.

Legal sector
Speaking specifically for plans in the legal sector, Nandlall spoke of the many new courts that will be completed in Mahdia, Port Kaituma, and Vigilance as well as the courts to be constructed at Cove and John, Mahaicony, Timehri, and Friendship.
On the matter of the country’s legislative agenda, the Attorney General described it as “packed”.
Among the bills to come on stream are the Juvenile Justice Bill, the Suicide Prevention Bill, the Border Patrol Bill, the Restorative Justice Bill, the Condominium Bill, the Mental Health Bill, the Electronic Communication Transaction Bill, the Anti-Dumping Bill, the National Intelligence Security Bill, the Representation of the People Act Bill, the Elections Law Amendment Bill, the Hemp Bill, the Public Health Bill, the Nurses and Midwives Bill, the Solid Waste Management Bill, and the Domestic Violence Bill. (G11)