Dear Editor,
It took time for the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) pioneers to get inside Guyana’s parliament. Two are making their presence felt. More accurately, their voices are heard. Mr. Vishnu Panday, formerly of GuySuCo, is now a Member of Parliament, with ‘honourable’ before his name. Never thought a GuySuCo hand could manage. Congrats to the Hon Vishnu Panday. Putting in time. Weighing in at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) he chairs.
Weighing-in fits nicely. The record is often of the Opposition chaired PAC limited to just that: weigh-in, voice some fighting words, only for low blows to rain, compliments of the wily PPP Govt. In sum, quorum rules changed (PPP majority). Quorum presences rescheduled (none or not enough PPP members present). Amended quorum arrangements succeed (no PAC work).
Obviously, the PPP Govt has satisfied itself that the fewer the opportunities for the PAC to get going, start examining the six years of arrears audit reports that’s fine and dandy. No reviewing, no calling to account. No questioning, no embarrassing any PPP minister, no exposing any of its handpicked cronies overseeing the people’s money. Mr. Panday raised his voice. Nobody in the government is listening. To hell with statistics. They are laffing. He will learn. How the PAC works. A wink and a nod. A verbal slap on the wrist, for the media to present. If I were Mr. Panday, I would caution the government. From leaders to ministers informed what he intends to do. To get over the procedural hurdles that the PPP erects to sledge the PAC; disarm its utility to the Guyanese people. Boxing came before with weigh-in; now I present sledging, to include cricket and commemorate the West Indies Test win.
A meeting of the PAC would be called. Every member invited early. The scrutiny goes on; quorum or no quorum. Sure, that violates the rules. But radical times demand radical approaches. The accounts are examined, and an unofficial report is released (or somehow seeps through parliamentary cracks). Guyanese get to appreciate what the PPP Govt fears, what it’s bent on hiding. From leaders to responsible ministers can yell all they want about rules trampled; procedures capsized. MP Panday’s should be short. When in the last six years has the PPP Govt complied with the letter and spirit of rules? Not only with the PAC, but most matters. Did all those pose some threat to the fairytales that the government sells? Mr. Panday can be Mr. Nice Guy. Or he can be Mr. Maytag Man. Meaning, he does his job so skillfully that he would have no PAC work left to do, given space to operate. The PPP doesn’t give space, he creates his own. WIN didn’t enter parliament by being soft-hearted and of faintly spirit. The purists wouldn’t like it. However, the PPP Govt is so profane that to chatter about purity is to risk calumny and curses upon its people’s heads.
Then, came Foreign Relations Committee (FRC) chair, the Hon Odessa Primus. Thanks to government operators, commercial banks mistook her first name, labeled her Russian. Locked and blocked. Banks instigated. Ms. Primus, now MP, previously insulted. It’s the Guyana I like. To stay far from. Stay sensible. Through squalls and squeezes, MP Primus is now FRC chair. Already, she is making tuff sounds. Too many Venezuelans. Don’t believe Catholics would agree; impedes ecclesiastical expansion. Chair Primus forges ahead. Will she make headway? First, she put her head down, now puts her foot down. Magnitude too heavy, seriously intolerable. Do something. She forgot something perfected by Bharrat Jagdeo: V4V. It’s not tomato juice, but Venezuelans for Votes. Needed come 2030. With extradition hanging in the balance, Guyanese get the same 2025 choice. Time will tell.
Obliged to chairs Panday and Primus for bringing fresh light into parliament. Frankly, the Speaker’s act got stale. He seems somewhat cobwebbed nowadays.
Sincerely,
GHK Lall
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