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THE OPPOSITION HAVE A LOT OF EXPLAINING TO DO

Dec 08, 2014 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Next year’s election will not be about the record of the PPPC government. The next general election is going to be about the effectiveness of the opposition parties.
The government will have to answer a number of charges including rogue behavior and undemocratic conduct, but the government will be able to turn these elections into a judgment of the manner in which the opposition parties used their one seat majority.
There were high expectations that the combined opposition would use the one seat majority to bring about improved governance. Instead they used it to make the life of the government miserable.
The PPP was hardly able to govern the country following the 2011 elections. They were constantly under siege from the actions of the combined opposition in the National Assembly.  First, there were the threats to government workers which caused hundreds of public sector workers to take to the picket lines outside of the National Assembly to protest planned cuts that would have cost some of them their jobs. When the Budget cuts did come, a number of agencies were affected, including the Ethnic Relations Commission. Major developmental projects were also slashed.
In following years, sugar workers were forced to picket parliament over a threat to not approve a subvention to the sugar corporation. The combined opposition tenure as a parliamentary opposition therefore brought them in direct conflict with major sections of the working class. On the election trail, the combined opposition will have to justify why they threatened the jobs of public sector workers and sugar workers.
In the case of the Guyana Sugar Corporation, the argument that there was a need to ensure that GUYSUCO put the subvention to good use will not find much traction.
The National Assembly is NOT doing the sugar workers and GUYSUCO a favour by offering a subvention to the sugar corporation.  The monies that are being given at present to the sugar corporation cannot compensate for the funds that were taken away from the sugar industry through the sugar levy.
In terms of net present value, the combined value of the levy far exceeds the combined subventions that are now being offered. It is the people of Guyana who owe the sugar workers.
The combined opposition will also have to defend their record on press freedom. They will have to explain why they denied the government the right to propagate its own views by slashing the subvention to GINA.
It is one thing to cut the subvention to NCN but it is clear violation of press freedom and the right of the government to publicize its positions and for the people to be accorded the right to receive such information. The cuts of GINA were unacceptable and were a flagrant violation of freedom of expression. The combined opposition will on the campaign trail have to explain why it is they opted to go this route.
Finally , the combined opposition while making a big fuss about defending the independence of the judiciary will have to explain why they took the position that he judiciary cannot make an order against the National Assembly.
They will have to explain their stance in relation to ruling by the Court in relation to certain actions, the constitutionality of which were challenged in the Courts. Democracy is on trial and it is not the government alone that is facing charges of being in violation of democracy. The actions of the combined opposition in relation to the separation of powers require an explanation on the campaign trail.
The government is going to use the forthcoming elections to highlight the role of the opposition parties in frustrating development. And the combined opposition will have to explain their threats against the working class, their positions on rulings of the Court on issues dealt with by parliament, and the violation of freedom of expression by denying a subvention to GINA because it was not carrying the opposition’s views.

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