After a contentious debate, the National Assembly last evening unanimously supported the AFC’s motion which urged the government to make all possible diplomatic and legal efforts to protect the rights of Guyanese nationals in Barbados and other Caricom states, ensuring there is no discrimination on the basis of nationality.
Raphael Trotman
The debate on the motion was marred by excessive heckling and flared tempers which forced the Speaker of the National Assembly Ralph Ramkarran to intervene on several occasions. The Speaker was even forced to suspend the House for some time, on one occasion.
The motion was moved by AFC Leader Raphael Trotman who said that it was “a simple but serious one”, which was intended to “exhort our Regional leaders to restore the fundamental imperatives of the notion of togetherness.” He explained that he was forced to move the motion since the party was yet to be convinced that the matters addressed in the motion had been adequately addressed at the recent 30th Caricom Heads of Government Meeting.
He emphasised that the motion was not designed to embarrass the government or the country in any way. Trotman told the National Assembly that “when this motion was drafted and presented for debate I had no intention of creating public hysteria or using the immigration issue for political purposes as has been suggested by the Guyana Head of State”. Trotman described this view by President Bharrat Jagdeo as being “myopic”.
He also said that the motion was “about Guyanese everywhere” and emphasised that it had “nothing to do with the racial element of Guyanese who may have been targeted for discrimination”.
Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett
The AFC Leader, while acknowledging that within the Treaty of Chaguaramas “there is the right of the exercise of individual sovereignty within each state” which recognizes to right of each state to enforce its own laws as it sees best, said that citizens of any state needed to be treated with respect. He argued that there existed” a higher moral law of humanity” which says that there must be a basic modicum of respect for the rights of citizens of any state when they are within the boundaries of another state.
He contended that “Caricom, as an institution, is as strong, or conversely as weak, as the rights of any and every citizen of every one of its constituent nations (and they must be) treated in a fair and dignified manner”. He added that based on commentaries prior to and even after the conclusion of the 30th Heads of Government Meeting, he has concluded that Caricom was now at its weakest point, especially as Guyanese citizens found themselves being subject to insularity and xenophobia.
He stated that in spite of “the words in the (recent Caricom) communiqué and the dedication to oneness, the implementation of policies within some nations has not been suspended or withdrawn.”
Trotman’s use of the word “myopic” to describe the views of the President sparked some controversy in the National Assembly. PPP/C MP Odinga Lumumba objected to such a word being used as he said that it besmirched the character of the President. While Lumumba sought the Speaker’s advice on the matter, a shouting match ensued between himself and members of the Opposition benches which prompted the Speaker to suspend the sitting in an attempt to restore order.
After a suspension, the Speaker chided the Members of the Assembly for their behaviour and urged them to behave like true “custodians” of the Parliament. Trotman later apologized and stated that his intention was not to bring the house into disrepute or to tarnish the image of the President. Lumumba attempted to apologise but after a brief exchange of words between himself and the Speaker, he left the National Assembly.
Meanwhile, during the debate on the motion, Government Member Gail Teixeira disputed Trotman’s argument that he did not intend to embarrass the government or the country. She identified the placement of an advertisement in the Stabroek News during the meeting of the Heads by the AFC and other groups as an unpatriotic act. Teixeira argued that some of the assertions made in the advertisement were extreme and painted a false picture of what Guyana was actually like. She described such an act as one which sought to create “public hysteria”.
Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett also spoke on the motion and she commended Trotman for his balanced presentation on the motion during yesterday’s sitting. She outlined several efforts that had been undertaken by the government to address the situation especially as it related to the treatment of Guyanese nationals in Barbados. The Foreign Affairs Minister stated that the recent Heads of Government Meeting did lead to some progress on the issue but suggested that there still remained some concerns which the Government will continue to address.
PNCR-1G MP Ernest Elliot indicated the main Opposition Party’s support of the bill. He emphasised that the issue was a serious one. He urged the government to use its diplomatic skill to have dialogue with the authorities to address this critical issue.
Trotman, in wrapping up the debate on the motion, saluted the efforts of several Caribbean Heads of State, as well as diplomats, who have expressed similar concerns especially as it related to the treatment of Guyanese. He urged Caricom to do its best to address these issues adequately.
The bill was eventually passed unanimously with the amendments that had been proposed by the Foreign Affairs Minister.
Congratulations to the National Assembly in finally seeing this Bill as important and giving it unanimous approval it so rightly deserves. What qualifies Odinga Lumumba other than being a citizen of Guyana to be a Minister of the government?
o.lumumba was a staunch mouth peice for the ppp in the last general elections as such he was rewarded with a post, my opinion.
Borapork ! How will the bill protect the rights of Guyanese nationals in Barbados and other Caricom states ? Oh! The Caricom states are shivering with fear now, due to the AFC initiative. Ms. Teixeira has a point.
He has the distinction of being the illegal exporter of Guyana’s dolphins.
Borapork , What about the rights of guyanese in Guyana ???? The murders , robberies with violence , domestic violence and the illegal drugs and guns . The parliamentarians of Guyana should be protecting guyanese at home from these social ills . The PPP government is a failure being led by a politically inept president . Mr.Trotman and the AFC wasting their time because the indo-guyanese are still going to vote for the PPP .
Borapork , I have a proposal to put to the PPP government , they should lease 200 sq. miles of Guyana to Barbados for 100 years . As a public/private sector joint enterprise , this project will create jobs for guyanese , at home , at all levels . Barbados stands a better chance of getting foreign investors to participate than the government of Guyana . Tourism is our business and we can make things better in Guyana . Food for thought , Borapork .
This issue had to be tackled somehow and a firm message be sent. Howevero one have to remember that migration should not be forced as in the case of Guyana not providing for the masses, but it should be voluntary as in the case of Barbadians to Canada. We can all try to spin the issue however we want but the fact of the matter has to be dealt with. The system is not ready for full implementation of the CSME. If that is done at the moment there will be too many people flocking to areas that they perceive are better off. The small islands of the caribbean cannot handle the influx, irrespective of what is being said. Yes they can handle a regulated amount.
Commando, if only others could see the situation through your eyes. Your submissions are always balanced and fair.
Perhaps what we need in each Caricom state is a section of Guyana Government in exile. ie 10 Guyanese MP’s in Antigua and Barbuda,12 in Barbados, don’t need any in St Vincent,they are well looked after by PM Gonsalves,and few could remain back in Guyana to hold the fort alongside of the President.
I agree with you on this one,only i am not so sure or familiar about the Barbados/Canada case.
Score one more for the AFC? Maybe! However, how ironic that the full House can approve such a bill that calls on regional leaders “to protect the rights of Guyanese nationals in Barbados and other Caricom states, ensuring there is no discrimination on the basis of nationality,” when Guyana’s own leaders are failing to do just that to Guyanese at home? If regional leaders/governments/hosts are not treating Guyanese humanely, it could be because they know Guyanese are not being treated humanely at home. Nevertheless, the fact that multiplied thousands of Guyanese are now living in Caricom countries as opposed to thousands of Caricom nationals living in geographically massive Guyana, says this imbalance points to a deficiency in visionary leadership in Guyana.
Seems to be somewhat late for all this activity.
‘Browny points’ for the AFC
Nothing will come of this Bill in the end.
One would think that the content of the AFC motion was more important than consideration of whether or not there was an attempt to embarrass the President.
The President has embarrassed himself already by the state of Affairs of Guyana that he has deteriorated beyond imagination, the Varshnie affair and many more.
The AFC advertisement was rather timely and intended to attract concern and help for Guyana. If anything the AFC has learnt from the PPP methodology when they were in opposition and hence is utilizing every opportunity to give publicity and to appeal for international recognition of their concerns .
The strategy of this government is to shame its opposition and dissenters into inaction so that they can run rough shod over Guyanese. They seek to put a bad label on every effort challenging their dictatorship. Those who protest are hooligans and mobsters. ( They are also labeled as targeting one particular ethnic group and being violent). Those who advertise want to embarrass the goodly president, are unpatriotic etc.
Enough is enough !
what a joke? a-fee-cee leader is not reading/ watching the news, all over the world there is no respect for humans.
simple, the prisons on cuban land, iraq prison photo, civilians in south asia.
they are treated very well by CARIGON.
and cia destroyed the tapes they had of what they did to some innocent people but Obama dont want it shown to the public coz it will enrage the Muslim world…so they killed showing the public the fotos too…but u wont hear Trotman saying anything about dat…but he let looses on Dick Morris coz Dicky boy was mouthing off against Obama…ehehehehehehehehe
That is your contribution for today freespeech? this is it? you need to work harder on the thought process. Same advice for Jagdeo and the PPP.
Very good, Freespeech and Evileyes ! Can’t stop laughing.
before you criticized use your taught process first because you have no sense of reasonable judgement, all your concern is to install your self and friends as the governing body of the people, well my friend your hope is a loosing battle/cause.
somebody has to govern freespeech, it is not like your poo poo poo and the residents of pooville are doing anything for the people of this country right?
AFC, this bill and so what? Can you make other Caricom countries treat Guyanese better? If they don’t, what will you do?
Where is the Bill that would make Jagdeo treat Guyanese remaining in Guyana properly? Don’t you think that was a more fitting Bill for the those who stayed and suffering under Jagdeo? You don’t think if you had such a bill and Jagdeo failed to treat people humanely you could do something about it? For example go the streets and protest?
AFC, why are you looking for the easy way out? Why not take on issues you have the capacity to handle?
The whole political class in Guyana is full of fluff….Nothing less but much more. This is why Guyana can’t progress. Leaders are busying doing nothing, shuffling around papers and thinking they can fool the people.
afaceee and phencee are all opportunist waiting in the corridor for the death of their masters, however , unknown to them, the bloody line is very long and time is a constant.
AFC is a minority party in parliament, mind you a dictatorship parliament, what do you want gold from hay?
Come on Raj get a grip.
Mr. Trotman seems to be seeking votes for the AFC in the next general election because Bajans are not xenophobic but we will not allow anyone to come here and break the laws of this country . Guyanese must be told by the members of parliament in Guyana that they must be of good behaviour when residing outside of Guyana – eventhough , the un-parliamentary behaviour of some of the MPs leave much to be desired . Mr.Trotman is saying that Caricom is at it’s weakest point but he is not saying that Guyana is mainly responsible for the status quo ; because Guyana is doing nothing to stop guyanese from fleeing there homeland . What is Guyana’s contribution to Caricom , political , social and economically ??? When the other Caricom states signed the EPA , Guyana refused . President Jagdeo then signed it at a later date . Guyana’s problems lies within Guyana and not in other Caricom countries . The inept PPP government have failed the people of Guyana and now the opposition parties are joining with them to criticise other Caricom states for enforcing the laws of their respective countries . Barbados is one of the most cosmopolitan countries in the Caribbean – we have people living here , legally , from all over the world – and the majority are from Guyana . So Mr. Trotman et al , where is the xenophobia and insularity of which you speak ???
Guyana’s problem is the almost 30 years of mis-management by PNC and PPP governments . What is now needed in Guyana is a government of National Unity if the two races can sit together in peace and harmony .
“Where there is NO VISION – the people PERISH” .
Gail Texiera and Lumumbada obumble are reasons why the PPP is such a huge failure, they are relics from the past.
Mr. Dolphin need to go and swim and cool down a bit.
You still have to take the black cloth off your eyes samaroo,,,The PPP has never lost an election in guyana despite your allegations of failure,,, The 53 % of Guyanese are not blind like you,,, Anyone with basic common sense can now count the votes for the AFC come 2011, I think they are in the vicinity of about 200 now…
53% of what? ow budday yuh mekkin up numbers now?
If you think winning an election is all that matters good no wonder the poo poo poo and all the folks in pooville are such failures solideer.
Hey solideer i thought you were packing up and leaving this great nation of the free?
Whappen man like jagdeo living aint all that it is cooked up to be down there or what?
Hold a second , PPP MP backed a bill that was presented by the AFC leader.Did you PPP fellas check with Jagdeo first ? Or am i seeing a change in the way you fellas do business. Corbin, what do you think ?
The President okayed the PPP MPs backing the bill because the bill does not directly speak to the President/PPP as much as it does to the leaders/hosts of Guyanese in Caricom nations. Had this bill been aimed at the President or PPP there is no way the President would have allowed PPP MPs to back it. Basically, the PPP also saved some face here by backing the same AFC that has been disparaging it to the rest of the region.
she gonna probably get manners tomorrow marnin