Democracy is alien to the APNU+AFC

Feb 07, 2021 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Kaieteur News – The APNU+AFC does not belong within the National Assembly. While it is indisputable that the Coalition earned its seats in the House, its politics makes it incompatible with the country’s foremost democratic institution.
The APNU+AFC by its actions, following the elections of 2nd March 2020, has morally disqualified itself from parliamentary politics. The APNU+AFC attempted to steal an election which it did not win and which it knew it did not win. Such reprehensible conduct goes against the grain of democratic norms and effectively confirms the autocratic nature of the parties belonging to the Coalition.
The APNU is the PNC/R which was formerly the PNC. The PNC was never a democratic party. It rigged elections in 1968, 1973, 1978 (referendum), 1980 and 1985. In 1997 and in 2011, it showed resistance to accepting the democratic will of the people. The PNC/R therefore does not have a history of adherence to democratic norms.
Internally, the party has always been authoritarian. Its Founder-Leader was treated with the reverence of a demi-God and his word was unchallengeable. That authoritarian culture still exists within the party to the extent that even now there has been attempt to force political succession within the party through selection rather than election. A party with such a history, and given its attempt at gerrymandering the results in 2020, cannot be expected to operate within the democratic framework.
The AFC is no different. While in government, it sided with the government in railroading the Constitution, in concocting fuzzy mathematics and in denying the democratic expression of the National Assembly by frustrating the effect of the no-confidence motion. Its leaders, except for one, refused to condemn the attempt to pervert the results of the 2020 elections. The party even sided with some of the dubious elections’ challenges. The AFC therefore cannot be considered as being committed to democratic governance.
The APNU+AFC therefore represents a rouge element in local politics, far divorced from democracy. Democracy has now become alien to the Coalition. The APNU+AFC has no place being in a democratic institution.
The APNU+AFC has proven inept at parliamentary practices. The recent tabling of its own Marijuana Bill is a case in point. The Attorney General of Guyana had to point out that the APNU+AFC did not even think how to present its own motion and had to be corrected.
But this ineptitude reached new heights in the legislative drafting. The APNU+AFC was proposing to make possession of small amounts of marijuana legal but to deem illegal smoking or inhaling marijuana. Its proposals would have removed custodial sentences not only for small amount of marijuana but also cocaine and other narcotics.
No wonder the former school teacher was in fits of laughter. It was high-comedy at its best.
What is no laughing matter is the disrespect which the APNU+AFC has been showing to the Speaker and by extension the National Assembly. Some of its leading lights have launched scandalous attacks on the Speaker. They have done this in public and on social media. This attack on the integrity of the Speaker is in direct contradiction of the appeal it had made in 2017 for the then Speaker to be respected. The APNU+AFC is behaving like a spoilt brat.
But it is also underestimating the Speaker. Manzoor Nadir is no pushover. He is a hardened Albouystown boy who is quite capable of handling dockyard bullies and street-smart roughnecks.
One of the sources of discontent with the Speaker was the refusal to allow a debate on a matter which is before the Courts. The APNU+AFC ought to know better. Standing Order 26 (g) prohibits debate on any matter which is before a Court of law. Parliamentary precedent in other parts of the Commonwealth also supports this prohibition.
The APNU+AFC has now decided, egged on by a discredited leader of the Working People’s Alliance, to launch a People’s Parliament. This is foolish political theatre. It is also absurd because a People’s Parliament is for the people not for parliamentarians.
The APNU+AFC should remain at Stabroek Square. They will fit in nicely with the confusion and chaos. They certainly do not deserve to be in the National Assembly.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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