On the issue of casino gambling a majority in Parliament does not represent a majority of citizens

Dear Editor,

I refer to the reported comments of two government officials in the Stabroek News of 1/11/07.

The Prime Minister, and therefore the government, confuses a “majority” in Parliament with the “views of the majority of Guyanese” in indicating its intention to proceed with casino gambling legislation.

The views of Cabinet now seem at odds with the views of a significant proportion of the population including Christian, Muslim and Hindu citizens, who have all come out and said that they oppose this legislation. This grouping may represent nearly 95% of the population. We therefore now have the awful situation where a “majority” in Parliament now advocates passage of legislation at odds with a “majority of citizens.”

We are a maturing democracy