National Assembly walkout: Govt calls out Opposition for abdicating responsibilities as elected leaders

– APNU//AFC is becoming more irrelevant – Teixeira

The Government has called out the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Chance (APNU/AFC) for failing to fulfil their responsibilities as elected officials after walking out of the National Assembly on Monday with critical Bills yet to be debated.

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Gail Teixeira, during a joint press conference after the walkout, said the Opposition had again failed its constituencies by failing to participate in law-making to the betterment of the society.
She emphasised that parliamentarians have an important role in decision-making in the National Assembly. A number of Bills including the Constitution Reform Bill, Suicide Bill, Bail Bill, and Restorative Justice Bill were on the National Assembly’s agenda.

“He (Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton) is abdicating his responsibility as the Leader of the Opposition when we have Bills here, Constitutional Reform which is an important one, which will allow the Opposition parties and the Government to have equal numbers,” the Parliamentary Affairs Minister expressed.
The Minister expressed the view that the mantra displayed by the Opposition at Monday’s sitting was an attempt to distract citizens from the ongoing Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the events surrounding the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections.

“The APNU/AFC cannot hide from the role they played during the March 2, 2020 elections in attempting to thwart the will of the people, the electorate over and over again for the five months.”
She also told media operatives that the actions of the APNU/AFC are indicative of the party becoming irrelevant.
“Their behaviour once again reinforces the APNU/AFC coalition is becoming more and more irrelevant; it is at its lowest tide as Opposition and that it has nothing to contribute.”

In addition, Public Works Minister Bishop Juan Edghill lambasted the Opposition for leaving the National Assembly and laying the blame on the Government’s refusal to discuss the high cost of living.
“You walked out because you are intellectually lazy and you are politically immature. You should have been standing in Parliament to say what else can be done to improve,” Minister Edghill stated.
Attorney General Anil Nandlall reminded that the APNU/AFC had made numerous promises about constitutional reform.
“I hope that the people of this country are looking on and are seeing that we have made a promise and we are in the process of delivering on that promise. The other side made a similar promise a decade ago. From 2011 to 2015, though in Opposition, they controlled the National Assembly with a one seat majority vote. They did nothing for constitutional reform,” Nandlall said.
“From 2015 to 2020, they made compelling promises to the people of Guyana to start constitutional reform with great immediacy. Five years after, they did nothing. In the first half of the Irfaan Ali Government, this manifesto promise is halfway down the road. We cannot travel the other side. And I want the people of Guyana to understand that. I hope the empty benches to which I’m speaking, is not a forbearing of what is to come in this process.”