I doubt I will vote in the next general election

Aug 09, 2013 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

The Parliament of Guyana passed a motion abolishing the cordons that ring Parliament when it is in session. The Guyana Government, the Speaker of the National Assembly and the Guyana Police Force continue to ignore that motion. When those in authority do not show respect for sacred institutions, then how do we expect young children and young adults to behave with manners and etiquette?
Here you have a Parliament of a country that passed a motion explicitly ordering whoever put those cordons to cease doing so. That motion was successfully piloted by Mr. Desmond Trotman of the WPA and APNU in the first quarter of 2012. Since that time, all the Parliamentarians from APNU and the AFC drive past those physical obstacles when they enter Parliament knowing full well that they voted for its removal.
Not even for one moment, has any opposition Parliamentarian ever voiced any objection in the House to the continuation of these steel mountains that envelope the National Assembly each time it is in session. Last year, during a picket exercise while the House was in progress, I approached Commander Vyphuis of the Police Force and demanded that he instruct his ranks to remove the barriers. At the very time, Opposition Leader David Granger came up.
In my presence, Mr. Vyphuis told Mr. Granger that the steel mountains will remain because the Speaker of the National Assembly has accepted the police argument of security. I have written about this twice before and Mr. Raphael Trotman has not denied what Vyphuis has said.
In front of several ranks in the Brickdam station, Mr. Vyphuis repeated his statement that the Speaker is the person who accepts that the barriers must remain. It would appear that all the AFC and APNU parliamentarians have accepted that the cordons should remain. So why did they waste their time in the first place to debate the issue in the House?
The problem I have with the position of the Speaker is because I don’t think it is any of his business. The Parliament approved a motion and Mr. Trotman should adhere to it. I have no information at the time of writing to inform me that the Speaker hasn’t got the authority to have the cordons remain. Let us assume that he does, why then did he not tell the opposition that it was a waste of time to have the motion because he thinks the barriers should remain out of security consideration?
What security consideration is Mr. Trotman talking about? This columnist lived under the domination of the Forbes Burnham presidency and there were no steel plates put up around Parliament when it was in session. This columnist was arrested right outside the gate of Parliament in 1989, protesting the national budget.
Minutes before the police took me away they had arrested Clement Rohee, right outside the gates. Yet this same Rohee argued vociferously against the motion. Just goes to show how better and morally superior were the PNC leaders back then to the PPP’s now. The very Rohee who enjoyed Burnham’s tolerance of demonstrators outside Parliament wants to keep them far away whenever the House is in debate. Just goes to show what happens when politicians get power.
On Wednesday afternoon I was in the picket line and I saw a beautiful thing. The protestors from City Hall who were picketing the acting Town Clerk, Ms. Carol Sooba, moved onto Parliament and just ignored the barriers of Raphael Trotman and the police, and proceeded right outside Parliament on Brickdam. It was an act of defiance that was long overdue. I joined them along with Leonard Craig of the People’s Parliament and John Green, special assistant to the Mayor. The police watched, listened and remained motionless.
Mr. Granger came out during the recess and spoke to them. So did Basil Williams. But these two leaders did not tell the protestors that the barriers should be removed because Parliament voted for that action. I can’t say if Williams said that, because when he spoke to them, I was a few yards away. But I was in the thick of things when Mr. Granger addressed them and I don’t think the barrier issue was brought up by him.
It must be disheartening for the people who voted for the opposition to see them behave like this. They are contemptuous of their own motion. I can understand Raphael Trotman. His political career is over, so he won’t be begging you for your vote in the future. As for me, I seriously doubt I can vote for politicians who don’t take themselves seriously.

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I doubt I will vote in the next general election

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