Latest update January 18th, 2025 7:00 AM
APNU execs to boycott AML consultation
– say “just another attempt at political mischief”
Members of the political opposition coalition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), will not be attending government’s consultation on the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Bill.
The consultation, APNU’s Shadow Minister of Finance, Carl Greenidge asserts, is “just another attempt at political mischief.” Greenidge has expressed that he will by no means be attending the meeting.
Joseph Harmon
APNU’s Shadow Minister of Public Works and Telecommunications, Joseph Harmon also indicated that he would be boycotting the event as he and his counterpart, Greenidge, share similar views on the true intentions of the meeting.
The consultation which is open to all interested stakeholders and citizens will be held tomorrow at the Guyana International Conference Centre, Liliendaal, at 10:00 hrs. The event will see President Donald Ramotar giving a feature address on the AML/CFT Bill which the opposition and the government remain gridlocked over.
The Alliance For Change (AFC) and APNU have made a joint list of demands which include the establishment and operationalization of the Public Procurement Commission and the insertion of the APNU’s amendments. But government refuses to grant their tall order of demands.
Even the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has written the President expressing concern over the Bill and the implications the non-passage of the Bill would have for the other Member States.
However, at a press conference held yesterday at APNU Headquarters on Hadfield Street, Harmon emphatically stated, “you can consult with CARICOM and even the leaders of the world, (but) the government has to consult with the opposition! It’s a very simple formula. I’d be very happy to know if the leaders of CARICOM in their letter to the President impressed upon the need for him to consult and to try to find resolutions to this problem by addressing the issues of the Opposition. It is quite clear that what we are seeing here is the circulation of the wagon. The government’s calls for general elections if the AML Bill cannot be passed are the drum beats of war…Resolution does not lay in creating drum beats of war around the country.”
The politician added that government’s plan is not going to work by creating an atmosphere of fear in hope that citizens will appeal to the Opposition to “pass the bill as is.” He noted the Opposition maintains its position that the Bill must be strengthened.
As regards not attending the event tomorrow, he said, “As far as I am concerned I am part of the Parliamentary Select Committee on the Bill and that’s where the heart of the matter is being dealt with. We have a meeting tomorrow (today) and out of that meeting, decisions will be made as to where we stand. We have not told our supporters don’t go, but we hope it does not turn out to be a farce.”
When pressed by media operatives as to why the opportunity will not be used as a platform to make clear their position on the matter, Harmon contended, “that is not where you make your points; it is made in a boardroom… It is not for us to convince the Guyanese people on the matter we have done that ad nauseam.”
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