Dear Editor,
The government (coalition APNU+AFC) qualifies for inclusion in the Guinness Book of World Records. The government Members of Parliament walked out when Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, the main PPP/C respondent to the budget in the debate, delivered his response. It has made news internationally. In Trinidad where I came to attend the weekend Hindu Conference, several former and current MPs expressed their shock that the government boycotted the opposition in parliament. It is unheard of in the parliamentary system. They have heard of the opposite – the opposition walking out against the government.
A boycott or walkout is an appropriate form of protest; it was used effectively against colonial rule in India by Mahatma Gandhi and other freedom fighters, against apartheid rule in South Africa, and by us in Guyana during the period of the dictatorship, etc. International community pays attention to that form of protest. This form of protest is generally utilized by opposition figures, not the government. So it is unprecedented that the coalition government would employ that tactic. The government is protesting against itself, reminding me that the Helmut Kohl government in Germany engaged in a protest against skinhead attacks on immigrants; the government behaved like it was the opposition. The same seems to be the case in Guyana when the government boycotted the Opposition Leader’s response to the budget.
The Opposition Leader and MPs were present in parliament when the Finance Minister presented the budget. Parliamentary decorum dictates that the Finance Minister listened to the response of all members particularly the Opposition Leader. Parliamentary convention dictates that the Opposition Leader be given equal time as the Finance Minister in responding to the budget. To do otherwise, and to not listen to the Opposition Leader, is an insult to the MPs as well as to the nation.
Yours faithfully,
Dr. Vishnu Bisram
