‘It is not about elections alone’

Mar 11, 2022 News

– Transparency group tells govt not to be selective in what laws it complies with

Kaieteur News – Transparency Institute Guyana Inc. (TIGI) is calling out the Government of Guyana (GOG) on its “propagandist” approach to dealing with criticisms from civil society.
In a blistering reply to accusations of being “selective” on issues and allegedly “colluding” with others against the current administration, the transparency body is adamant that it is the government that has been selective in their adherence to the law, while launching unjustified “feral” attacks on persons and agencies seeking to upbraid them for same.
The TIGI said that while it is cognizant of a “cordial relationship” with the GOG, there seems to be a right side, left side arm of the government, with the latter finding critical societal groups “a source of irritation”. The body pointed out two recent matters where it says it has received criticism for conducting the people’s work.
TIGI has been accused of having an “anti- PPP agenda by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo who insinuated that reports from TIGI resulted in “biased” reporting of Guyana’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) by the International arm of the agency. TIGI was also lumped with the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) for being selective in their expression of concern regarding the replacement of Dr. Rudy Jadoopat, former head of the Guyana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GY-EITI) with well-known PPP activist Prem Misir.
On another matter, TIGI noted that while the government is constantly accusing civil society of not speaking up during 2020 elections fiasco, they do not show the same enthusiasm in other areas of the rule of law. “It could not be that they (GOG) felt that as long as the country had elections declared that nothing else mattered after. It seems that that is what this part of the GOG – at least the left brain – expects. Civil society is only the messenger who tells the country that there are signs of danger.”
TIGI said civil society is not being selective in the least. “It is more like the GOG is being selective in the laws of the country with which it wants to comply. That is worse than having no legislation in place concerning certain matters, as it provides the veneer that we are a country of laws, but only the veneer.” One critical area regarding rule of law that TIGI says it has seen abuse by both past and present governments is the procurement system where these Administrations have refused to completely implement audit recommendations by the Organization of American States. TIGI said, “These would have addressed flaws in the (procurement) system. Why is the GOG annoyed with civil society then? Is it that they are saying they must be left alone to maintain the fiction that they are adhering to in the procurement legislation? And note well, these procurement weaknesses have survived all governments including the Coalition.”
TIGI said that in the execution of their work, specifically where concern was expressed on the replacement on Dr. Jadoopat, civil society is being accused of “some unholy plan to attack the government”. The agency is contending however, that what seems increasingly visible is the apparent GOG’s plan to frustrate the laws and Constitution of the country and to shout down anyone who complains. TIGI said it is not acting blindly as they also receive complaints from the Private Sector on procurement breaches. These complainants are just afraid to go public for fear of vicitimisation, TIGI related.
In a Facebook post President Irfaan Ali noted that his government believes strongly that civil society has an important role to play in any democratic society. “But in civil society a role cannot be convenient. And we cannot confuse civil society with individual organizations, that is, organizations that are run by individuals or are not open to the wider membership of our country. These organizations cannot be the conscience of truth or the conscience of society when they are convenient in the way they address issues”.
Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, SC, had also claimed that, “There is in existence, a mysterious group of critics of the PPP/C Government, constantly spewing their venomous attacks under the disguise of various fronts masquerading as civil society organizations- some known, some unknown and some simply fabricated.” TIGI has rebutted these statements saying that the propagandist arm of the government has infiltrated the President’s speeches and that of other top officials of the Administration.

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