A week after the opposition passed a motion of no confidence against Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee, APNU Leader David Granger said the coalition will withhold all support from the minister as it seeks to pressure him into resigning.
“We will not cooperate with Rohee. We have no confidence in his ability to maintain that portfolio and we will not cooperate with him,” Granger said during a press briefing at his Hadfield Street office yesterday.
He said that APNU had already written to the foreign missions in Guyana and is in the process of sending copies of the National Assembly’s resolution.
“We will continue to work with the NGOs [Non-Government Organisations] in Guyana to bring pressure on Rohee to go, just like how we brought pressure on [former Minister Ronald] Gajraj to go. What took Gajraj out was really public opinion and public pressure and the government was forced to comply. We think that the same thing would work with Rohee,” Granger told reporters.
He later said that he and the party’s other MPs will not cooperate with Rohee in the National Assembly, while adding that the president has been asked to revoke the minister’s appointment and the masses have stated that they do not want him responsible for national security.
However, when questioned about a timeframe that the party was looking at within which Rohee must be ousted, Granger was unable to give one.
He noted that on Friday the National Assembly will go into recess and would not resume until October 10. “But we will continue to maintain pressure through diplomatic, NGOs and international organisations to have him removed,” he said.
Granger stressed that the July 18 shooting of Linden protestors is a serious matter and NGOs have already started to speak out about it. “So it is not something that can be easily swept under the carpet. We take this situation very seriously and we have already written to the international community,” he noted.
Following the shooting, three persons were dead and at least 20 injured after police discharged rounds on day one of a five day protest against increased electricity tariffs in Linden. Subsequently there were calls for Rohee to immediately leave office, which culminated in the no confidence motion passed by the opposition majority in the National Assembly.
Using its majority the opposition during the wee hours of July 31 adopted the motion and called for the minister’s removal. This development came after about 20 speakers on both sides of the House debated the motion, during which government MPs attempted to make a slew of amendments aimed at reducing the impact of the motion but which were rejected.
