POWER HUNGRY!

Feb 12, 2012 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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The 10th parliament of Guyana has already begun to create history but not in the way expected. Having started out on the wrong footing by “dissing” established political convention, the ceremonial opening laid to waste any possibility that all the parties would try for political unity and inclusiveness.
The opposition parties are demonstrating that they are more interested in power, control and dominance.
The opposition have in their public pronouncements made lofty claims to wanting political inclusiveness. One opposition Parliamentarian even expressed disappointment that the President in his traditional address did not identify how unity will be achieved. However, not long after the President had delivered his throne speech, the combined opposition successfully passed a motion which saw the ruling party, which has the most seats in the National Assembly, being denied its fair share of representation on the Committee of Selection.
What is most dangerous about this development is not the fact that the two opposition parties were acting in concert to amend the ruling party’s original motion, but that their actions flew in the face of the formula prescribed in the Standing Orders.
The Standing Orders are the rules that govern the Parliament. And if the Standing Orders have a formula, then any deviation from that formula can be viewed as a serious transgression of the parliamentary law. And in Parliament, its rules should reign supreme.
The rules are there for everyone’s protection, and while indeed there are unjust rules and rules that are archaic and redundant, to follow wise counsel is always to act scrupulously in compliance with the law… in this instance, the Standing Orders. Those who so otherwise remove themselves from the very protections that the Standing Orders can afford are going against the grain.
What happens if the government decided now not to act in compliance with motions passed in the National Assembly? Is the opposition going to argue that convention (an unwritten rule) so dictates? Will they then seek refuge in the very Standing Orders?
There can therefore be no justification for the argument that instead of complying with laid down formulas set out in the standing orders, the Committee of Selection must instead reflect the new dispensation. The ignoring of first parliamentary convention in the election of the Speaker and now the refuting of the formula for representation in committees represent an unpromising start to the 10th Parliament.
Political conventions are practices which though not part of any written law, do over time acquire the force of law. There is a parliamentary convention that states that once a Speaker offers himself for re-election he is not usually opposed. And there is a convention that provides for the ruling party, whether a minority in the house or holding a majority, should have the position of Speaker. No new dispensation should do away with this convention but the combined opposition in Guyana opted to do so even though they have the numbers to outvote the government.
That advantage is not enough; they want total domination, thus making a mockery of any claim to power sharing.
This action was followed just after the ceremonial opening by the opposition dominating the members of the Committee of Selection, thus paving the way for a total dominance of all committees. This makes a mockery of the opposition claims to want to work towards greater national unity. The opposition is trying to take control, absolute control, of the National Assembly while parading itself as willing to work for political compromise.
This is acting in poor faith and the government must immediately respond by cancelling the tripartite talks. If the opposition is not prepared to act in good faith, the government is under no obligation to do the same. It should immediately halt any cooperation, withdraw from the consultations agreed to under the Budget process and simply prepare itself for a tough fight to have the 2012 Budget passed.
The government has been more than magnanimous to the opposition. It is not as if the combined opposition has a large majority over the ruling party in the National Assembly. It barely scraped that majority by one seat.
Therefore, it should not be trying to dominate everything. The executive has been more than magnanimous. The President did not attempt to bulldoze the summoning of parliament soon after the elections. He acceded to the wishes of the opposition to not call the Parliament until the New Year since some of their members were proceeding overseas.
He has agreed to consultations on the Budget even though the opposition really should have no part in the preparation but should have been limited to using its razor-edged- slim majority in the National Assembly to negotiate changes after the measures proposed by the government had been debated.
It seems clear that the opposition is on a mission and this mission is to marginalize the government. All the talk about power sharing and inclusiveness is hogwash. The government should refuse to be part of this charade and should simply go back to the people so that they can rectify this delicate situation that is being so ruthlessly exploited by a power-hungry opposition.

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