Thoughts on Topical Issues

Here are my thoughts on some current issues:

Money Laundering Legislation

Parliamentarians should ensure this legislation is adopted and passed not only to avoid international sanctions but also to curb domestic corruption and ensure stronger financial accountability and transparency in both the public and private sphere.

APNU argument that they have not had sufficient time to review the legislation and offer their own input is disingenuous. They had at least 4 months since the first deadline was missed to articulate and draft their own positions for inclusion into the government’s draft. I think it is a missed opportunity from the APNU to really ensure that their input went into the legislation and thereby ensuring that a stronger and more robust bill was sent to the parliament for deliberations.  Moreover, it would have tested the government’s commitment to stronger rules, oversight and penalties.

In the current design of the parliament, it is absolutely essential that compromise and concessions be the order of the day. Therefore, I view the AFC’s position that if the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) is established it would support the money laundering legislation as reasonable.

Here I saw the government passed up on a great opportunity to avoid all the drastic consequences for not adopting the legislation.  If the consequences are as dire and pernicious as we in the private sector and government are making it out, then it would have been a small concession to move forward with the constitutionally mandated establishment of the PPC.

Having missed the opportunity to collaborate with the AFC, the government now faces a combined AFC and APNU alliance when it comes to the AML/CFT bill. That alliance is calling for three things: The establishment of the PPC, Local Government Elections, and Presidential assent to previous bills passed in the House. Here again, none of the demands seem unreasonable to me and a smart government would move forward with negotiations on them. The one item  that I disagree with that the opposition is making is the bill to be amended to include a clause that empowers a police or GRA officer to seize cash from any citizen  on mere suspicion of money laundering if that cash exceeds $10million. 

At this stage, I rather suspect that the opposition parties will vote on an amended bill and bring to out of Select Committee and pass it on the open floor of the House. Stay tuned.

On a final note, even if the bill is passed in the upcoming weeks, there is still no guarantee that the FATF authorities would approve the amendments and whether it would not still apply sanctions due to our inability to pass the legislation before the Feb 28 "deadline."

National Budget

Today is Budget day. Some people get excited, anxious or scared, or a combination of all three when budget day approaches. Budgets are sometimes godsend and included initiatives and changes that bring about prosperity for many and disappointment for others. Expect no excitement or optimism from me this year, in particular when the budgetary debates begin. In what is already being described as a "car crash" scenario by senior parliamentarians, expect many "reductions" from the estimates provided by the Finance Minister. By reductions, I mean zero allocations to certain parts of the budget or we might see the outright rejection of the Budget by the combined opposition. If the latter scenario materializes, then expect national and general elections within three month of the conclusion of the debates. 

Public Procurement Commission

This body should be established immediately. 

I cannot agree with the government’s demand for a final “no objection” clause. Not only does it violate the spirit of the constitution, which is explicit in the fact that government’s role in awarding contracts should be minimized, it is also unnecessary.  There are many mechanisms in the current legislation to ensure that the government interest is served on the PPC.  The government appoints representatives to sit on the PPC and also has a say on who the Chairman of the PPC is. With all this oversight over the functioning of the PPC, it is needless for a government’s “no objection.” The government can have its appointed representatives on the PPC query any discrepancy and ensure the full integrity of the procurement process.

National Competitiveness Council

We need a long-term mechanism that is immune to electoral cycles or political bickering to ensure that national infrastructure and economic development projects are prioritized, adopted and implemented.  Therefore, the NCC structure and functions should be reviewed and overhauled. Opposition parliamentarians or economic experts and members of the academic community should be added to serve on the NCC, which is heading by the president.

The NCC should be staffed with the best and brightest economists, researchers and financial analysts to provide input to the NCC members.

Once decisions are made, they should become legally bound so as to ensure they are implemented and funds provided for.  This would eliminate the uncertainty that currently prevails over large projects and whether or not funding would be provided for their implementation.

Once we have a reformed NCC, the projects undertaken by NICIL should be transferred to the NCC and that entity made redundant. This would eliminate many of the political suspicions that exist over NICIL and its functioning.

Local Government Bills

There should be no excuse or rationale for these bills not being assented to by the president considering the fact that all sides of the parliament adopted it unanimously over two months ago, including the president’s parliamentary representatives. I cannot expound enough how urgent the citizens of Guyana need these bills and for local government elections to commence forthwith. Our democracy is at risk, our communities are at risk and the voice of our people are at risk the longer we take to ensure local government elections. Just look at what is going on at the Georgetown Municipality and the eyesore and health risk it poses to visitors and the citizens of the city.

The minister of local government and the minister of the environment should be pressing the president to assent to these bills especially since the current system does not favor them and defeats all the good work they are putting into their respective portfolios.