Opposition boycotts 50th anniversary programme at Parliament

– cites lack of inclusion

The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) on Friday excused itself from attending a programme put together by the Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Barton Scotland, titled “Afternoon of Reflection and Celebration on Guyana’s 50th Independence Anniversary,” saying that the programme lacked a great amount of inclusivity.

In a letter written to the Speaker, while acknowledging receipt of the invitation, Opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira said, “Whilst we originally assumed that this was a Parliament of Guyana activity, we realised that the Parliamentary Management Committee had not been involved in the planning of the activity.”
The letter went on to say that upon further inquiry, Party members were informed by the Clerk of the National Assembly that the event was planned by the Speaker.
“Regrettably, the opportunity provided by a parliamentary activity on our 50th independence anniversary to reach out and be inclusive and achieve some modicum of bipartisan consensus between the two sides of the Legislature appears to have been ignored,” the Chief Whip said in her letter.
She continued that more importantly, the country’s 50th “birthday” as a nation calls for forward thinking and a vision of the future “in order to anchor the next generation(s) with ‘a pride of place’ in our dear land”. She said inclusion is key and critical.

“Therefore, we find what appears to be an inexplicable restriction on the recognition of parliamentarians to the First and Second Parliaments alone. In our opinion, the 50 years of our independence includes all parliamentarians who have served and continue to serve Guyana over these five decades and eleven Parliaments,” Teixeira wrote.
According to the Chief Whip, the opportunity to be more inclusive and to reflect the diversity in the country’s Legislature and nation – gender, youth, age, and ethnicity – appears to have also been lost.
Seeking to illustrate that, she said the Opposition has noted that the two parliamentarians listed to speak are from the same parliamentary political party, the People’s National Congress (PNC) – Oscar Clarke and Llewelyn John.
“We have noted that no Member of Parliament for the PPP who served in the First and Second Parliaments has been included on the programme. Nor are we aware of what attempts have been made to contact the six surviving members. It may have been wise, in retrospect, to have sought the assistance of the People’s Progressive Party on this matter,” Teixeira related.
She said one of these parliamentarians, in particular, must be specifically identified due to the glaring lack of any female MP on the programme, that is Mrs Philomena Sahoye-Shury (a member of the second Parliament) who also served as a parliamentarian as recently as in the 9th Parliament.
She also lamented the failure to include younger Members of Parliament, female MPs and ethnically diverse MPs “reflective of who we are as a nation in this programme is a sad reflection of where we are as a nation at 50 years old.”
She continued, “by way of this letter, I wish to indicate to you our profound disappointment with regards to the content of the programme for the event, and, as a result, we shall be unable to participate in your October 28 event in ‘Reflection and Celebration of our 50th Independence Anniversary’.”