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It is a calculated strategy to avoid scrutiny
Dear Editor,
I write regarding the recent statement by Mr. Vishnu Panday, Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, who has accused government members of delaying the work of this vital parliamentary oversight body. Four scheduled meetings have now been cancelled because PPP/C representatives were unavailable. This is not a minor procedural hiccup. It is a deliberate strategy to obstruct accountability.
The PPP has been playing this game for decades. They understand the rules and exploit them ruthlessly while keeping the public distracted with social events (bread and wine). The PPP/C controls the government side of the PAC, and the quorum rules require at least two government members to be present. By simply refusing to attend, they can paralyse the committee. This is not incompetence. It is a calculated strategy to avoid scrutiny.
They have done this before. Between 2021 and 2025, fifty-one meetings were scheduled, but only twenty-six were held. Twenty-five were cancelled because government members did not show up. The pattern is clear.
This brings me to a broader point. The WIN Party is new to the national political stage. They have energy, ideas, and the support of many Guyanese who are tired of old politics. Their leader, Mr. Azruddin Mohamed, deserves full marks for his fieldwork among the people. Many issues the nation is now aware of were hidden under the previous APNU/PNC watch because of their laziness.
However, the WIN team must understand the cunning and undemocratic ways of the PPP. They should establish a dedicated team for parliamentary affairs and legal responses to PPP tactics. It was the PPP that changed the quorum requirements for the PAC in April 2021 specifically to gain control over when the committee could meet. They knew exactly what they were doing.
The PPP has thirty-six parliamentarians. There is no reason why ministers Gail Teixeira and Juan Edghill must sit on the PAC. The PPP chooses to place ministers with complex portfolios on the committee, knowing they will often be unavailable because they will be out of town or out of the country. This gives them a convenient excuse to cancel meetings. This is not an accident. It is strategy. Could Member of Parliament Suresh Singh and James Bond not serve on the PAC?
The backlog of Auditor General’s reports is staggering. The last report fully scrutinised was for 2018. Reports from 2019 through 2024 remain untouched. At this pace, it will take years to clear the backlog.
Instead of simply complaining, Mr. Panday and the WIN Party must anticipate these tactics and develop counter-strategies. They must be smarter, more organised, and more persistent. Why not picket the offices of Minister Teixeira and Minister Edghill for their poor performance at the PAC? Why not write to international parliamentary bodies—the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, and ParlAmericas—complaining about the PPP’s commitment to good governance?
Every cancelled meeting should be documented and published. Every excuse should be challenged publicly. The media must be engaged in a formal press conference hosted by the other WIN Leaders since the Leader of the Opposition is so busy in the field doing exactly what an Opposition Leader should be doing, opposing and exposing the weaknesses of the sitting government. The public must be informed and it is the duty of Mr. Panday to so inform them of the PPP shenanigans. The PPP relies on public inattention. The opposition must make them pay attention by exposing what is happening in Parliament.
The WIN Party must up its game and not rely solely on the Leader of the Opposition to do everything.
I support the PAC’s work. It is one of the few genuine oversight mechanisms we have. But the opposition must be smarter about how they approach it. They must anticipate the PPP’s tactics and expose them relentlessly. The PPP must not be allowed to hide behind procedural excuses.
The time for strategic, relentless pressure is now.
Vishnu Prashad
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