Ramotar rebuffs “dictatorship” criticisms

-says prorogation decision widely misunderstood

Faced with accusations that his arbitrary suspension of the Parliament to avoid being voted out of office by opposition was anti-democratic and dictatorial, President Donald Ramotar yesterday continued to try to make a case for his decision.

At a news conference at the Office of the President, Ramotar hit out at claims of aiming for a dictatorial rule n Guyana and maintained that he had acted well within the limits of the constitution. “Prorogation is in our constitution and I acted within the constitution. I acted legally and democratically in that regard,” he said. “The application that its created a dictatorship or a semi-dictatorship and all of that makes no sense when you think about it, because prorogation does not give me a new power, or anything new or new authority that will make me a dictator,” he added.

Ramotar believes that such claims were used to “fool people” and create “misunderstanding and confusion.”

Ramotar on Monday issued the proclamation to prorogue the Parliament, in order to forestall the passage of a no-confidence against his government in the opposition-controlled National Assembly, which would have effectively forced the holding of new general elections in three months. Ramotar also said if attempts at dialogue with the opposition fail during the prorogation period, which could last as much as six months, he would move for general elections.

When questioned on the opposition’s claims that the prorogation of Parliament created a “constitutional crisis,” Ramotar refuted this assertion and maintained that his decision had been well within the country’s constitution. He further denied that he had acted undemocratically as the constitution had made provisions for the prorogation of Parliament.

Earlier, during the launching of the Salvation Army’s annual Christmas appeal at the Georgetown Club, President Ramotar said his decision had been “widely” misinterpreted as he used the opportunity to justify his decision to prorogue the 10th Parliament on Monday.

The Head of State said that his decision to prorogue Parliament was motivated by hope and goodwill. “It was also to try to give an opportunity for dialogue and hopefully… compromises, agreements and for us to move on,” Ramotar explained.

He was, however, cognisant of criticisms. “Proroguing the Parliament does not give me one single ounce of power more than the presidency already has given to me,” he pointed out.

He also referred to the belief of some that his administration suspended Parliament to allow his government to “steal money.” However, he noted that every expenditure onwards has to be within the confines of the budget passed this year and whatever else is spent would will still have to go to Parliament for its approval whenever it reconvenes. Ramotar said he hoped that will be sooner rather than later.

When Stabroek News asked the president about a date for the reconvening of Parliament, he said “if I had decided that, I would have announced that already.” When asked about the opposition’s declaration that they will not be meeting with the government during the suspension, he said that that is their initial reaction, but “let’s see what will happen.”

 

‘One party-dictatorship’

 

Meanwhile, at the main opposition coalition APNU’s weekly press conference, Opposition Leader David Granger stated that President Ramotar was using a “constitutional pretext” to impose a “one-party dictatorship in Guyana.”

“APNU accuses President Ramotar of single-handedly and single-mindedly engineering a constitutional crisis in order to promote the PPP/C’s [People’s Progressive Party/Civic] partisan political programme at the expense of dealing with pressing national matters,” Granger said. He went on, “The main purposes of the proclamation are to allow the PPP/C to establish a de facto, one-party dictatorship, to avoid parliamentary scrutiny and to evade its responsibility to the people.”

According to Granger, this “constitutional pretext” allows the president to obstruct debate on the opposition’s no-confidence motion, postpone the holding of local government elections, prevent debate on financial excesses and impropriety, provide for the continued expenditure of state funds without parliamentary scrutiny, protect delinquent ministers from parliamentary sanctions and permit the PPP/C’s campaign for general and regional elections to proceed.

“We’re calling on the people of Guyana to protest against this subterfuge by the president,” APNU member Rupert Roopnaraine also said. Roopnaraine further said that APNU has been meeting with members of the civil society and will holding a number of meetings to craft a “step by step” plan to peacefully protest across the country.

“Protesting is a guaranteed constitutional right,” Granger said before adding that efforts are being made to ensure that all of these protests are conducted in an orderly and peaceful manner.

He further said that APNU has been picketing for the past 6 weeks and all of these protests have been “lawful and orderly.”

President Ramotar also indicated that he has been meeting with members of the civil society as well. According to the president, there is a general consensus that dialogue between all sides involved was very important for a resolution to be reached.

However, members of the opposition parties are maintaining that they will not be having any discussions with the PPP/C administration outside of Parliament. (Desilon Daniels and Dacia Whaul)