Latest update April 7th, 2025 6:08 AM
Govt., Opposition still trading blame as FATF review looms
…Granger believes executive readying for an election
Guyana will come up for review by the Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) this week but there has been little progress in relation to the passage of the Anti Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Bill as well as addressing the outstanding matters.
This was confirmed this past week by both Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon and Leader of the Political Opposition, Brigadier (rtd) David Granger.
Granger during a press engagement at his Office on Friday said that on the matter of the conditions set out by the Opposition, namely the none assent of a number of Bills voted for by the majority and the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission, a mechanism is still to be agreed on.
Opposition Leader David Granger
He said that following his meeting with the President where a commitment was made to work towards common ground, the Attorney General, Anil Nandlall and his shadow counterpart Basil Williams were to meet and work out a mechanism to have the issues resolved but this has not happened.
Granger told media operatives that government is responsible for the delays and suggested too that it may be preparing for an election.
Government, he said is, “taking its own sweet time…It is preparing to go ahead for some kind of elections, you can hear the talk.”
He said when he met with President Ramotar recently, he repeated the position of the partnership that it is not going to agree to support any measure on the AML/CFT Bill unless there was prior agreement by Government to establish a mechanism by which the Bills to which assent was not granted, were returned to him for his signature.
According to Granger, he advised the President to have Nandlall meet with Williams to agree on a mechanism or process for which the Bills could be returned.
He reported that there were two subsequent meetings but still no agreement.
“Nandlall seems not to be aware of the need and urgency for agreeing on a process.”
Granger reported too that the Special Select Committee is still meeting but is unlikely to come to a satisfactory conclusion unless the Government agrees to the amendments put forward by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU).
The Opposition Leader stated that APNU is in talks with the Alliance for Change and “we support their demand for a Public Procurement Commission.”
Pointed to the fact that Guyana will come up for review in a matter of days, Granger said that the matter has been engaging government for 14 months now and that it is the executive that is unwilling to act on the demands.
Dr Luncheon in his post cabinet press briefing this past week had also lamented the situation but he blamed the Opposition for the stalemate.
According to Dr Luncheon, Blacklisting should be avoided at all cost and if Guyana is caught in that trap, it is not easy to be removed.
He said that international experience has shown that at a minimal it takes two years to be removed from a blacklisted status.
Dr Luncheon drew reference to the FATF plenary to he held this week and said that as a result of blacklisting, Guyana will see countries moving to protect their financial systems when doing business with this country.
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