AFC says it will no longer protect Granger

May 04, 2018 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

The AFC’s May 1, 2018 confabulation at the Georgetown Club must go down as the most definitive meeting of the executive body since 2015. The echoes from the floor were distinct and pellucid – the AFC is dissatisfied with the shape of the present relationship with APNU.
If there was any decision that one can say was the largest indication to date that the troubled coalition will become even more troubled, was the position taken for the AFC to proceed with the tabling of the amendment to the anti-narcotic law that will effect changes to the section relating to marijuana.
The voices from the floor were conclusive – the Bill (which was on the order paper in the name of AFC Parliamentarian Michael Carrington in January 2017) must be tabled, because it is an AFC policy for Guyana. The amendment, drafted by attorneys Nigel Hughes and Mark Waldron, was to be debated in 2017 and had the support of the opposition, PPP. But it was Ms. Amna Ally that informed the AFC that the President has requested a postponement. The AFC then did not proceed.
I suspected that the Bill would have been featured at the AFC’s May Day executive meeting because the night before, I had a fish and chips lime with a few top AFC executives at a famous cricket club. They were all charged up at the separation of the petroleum portfolio from the ministry of the AFC’s leader, Raphael Trotman. From their utterances, it was clear to me that this was the attitude of the key players in the AFC’s hierarchy. As the night wore on other subjects came up, including the marijuana legislation.
It was my turn to speak. I told the table that even if coalition warmness allowed the AFC to pull back the bill, the AFC had an obligation to the principles of life and the people of Guyana, to explain why it did not proceed with the legislation. It should have told the nation its position was out of respect for the wishes of President Granger. But to have a Bill whose reading was about to proceed then it was assigned to the backburner, and absolutely nothing was said to the country, is either downright stupidity or unadulterated contempt.
But there is a curiosity about this marijuana controversy. It was a campaign promise by APNU. I spoke at more than two dozen public outings during the 2015 election campaign and changes to the marijuana law were promised from the platform. I could remember I spoke in Paradise and APNU speakers brought up the marijuana topic. It was in APNU’s manifesto.
Surely, if Mr. Granger was unhappy with relooking at the legislation, he could have intervened there and then. One answer could be that he changed his mind in 2016. But President Granger must have known and still knows that in a coalition, each political party has policies it wants to see implemented by the government of which it is a part.
I left that cricket club with the distinct impression that the AFC’s May Day executive rendezvous would see some no-nonsense reverberations from the floor. And it did happen. A number of interesting directions were made. Apart from the marijuana amendment, there were two others. Since this article was composed, AFC leader Raphael Trotman has gone public in the AFC’s rejection of section 18 of the Cybercrime Bill.
The other issue will certainly test the patience of the AFC. There is a Bill before Parliament to amend Act No. 10 of 1990 – Local Authorities Elections Amendment Act. It will be read at the next session of Parliament. In that Bill, GECOM is required to hold local government elections the first week in December every three years. The current alteration takes away that power from GECOM and places it in the hands of the relevant Minister. The Minister can call the election anytime between the months of November and December.
One wonders if the saccharine embrace the AFC showed for the PNC in the first two years of the life of the coalition is evaporating. If that is the case, then the sugary icing on the cake that the AFC’s leadership is slicing off, came too late. Here are the words from a truly beautiful song, the AFC leaders need to listen to. The title is MacArthur Park.
MacArthur’s Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don’t think that I can take it
‘Cause it took so long to bake it
And I’ll never have that recipe again
Oh no!

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News