Gov’t presents Rodney CoI report to Parliament

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Basil Williams (left) hands over a copy of the CoI report to Speaker of the National Assembly Dr. Barton Scotland.  (GINA photo)

One day before a planned opposition motion calling for the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry report to be tabled in the National Assembly, Attorney General Basil Williams yesterday presented the  document to the Speaker, Dr. Barton Scotland.

Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan was the only other government minister present at the handing over which took place more than three months after the APNU+AFC government was furnished with the report.  The presentation of the report may have forestalled a potentially embarrassing vote in Parliament today where the 12 AFC members would have had to decide on the opposition motion. The AFC had called for the report to be released whereas its coalition partner APNU has condemned the report and its findings. If the vote was taken today, the AFC members would have been expected to vote in favour of the opposition motion or abstain, dealing an embarrassing blow to their government.  The presence yesterday of Ramjattan, the leader of the AFC, at the handing over is therefore seen as significant.