NEW YORK, CMC – The New York-based Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID) has criticized the decision of the Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, in Guyana, to file a motion of no confidence against the David Granger government saying he was seeking to exploit the current illness facing the Head of State.
Granger has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and is due to return home later on Tuesday from Cuba where he has been undergoing medical treatment.
Jagdeo, a former president, filed the no confidence motion against the Granger-led A partnership for National Unity (APNU) coalition government, which was elected in 2015 with a one-seat majority in the 65-member Parliament.
Jagdeo said whether the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) wins or loses the no confidence motion, he believes the country will benefit from the debate surrounding it, “because we believe we will get a chance once again to point out what the electorate said to them when they rejected them at these polls, that their policies are all wrong and damaging our prospects for the future and the well-being of all of our people across Guyana.”
“Man of uncanny decadence”
But CGID president Richford Burke, said “only a man of uncanny decadence would seek to exploit the illness of a Head of State to divide a nation for cheap political points”.
He told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that some PPP members have also been using social media to disseminate “dishonorable and unpatriotic” messages against Granger.
Burke claimed that Jagdeo has been “desperately attempting to dominate the political space created by the President’s illness” and that the reason for being critical of Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, who is performing the duties of Head of State is to give support to his motion of no confidence against the present administration.
“Nothing in the law prevents the prime minister from fulfilling his constitutionally mandated parliamentary duties, and he will,’ Burke said.
Insensitive motion
Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo, last week noted the “insensitivity” of the motion at a time when President Granger is overseas seeking medical treatment. He said the Opposition’s intention is to breed disaffection among Guyanese and questioned where is the “Guyanese compassion,” while reminding that the Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr. Barton Scotland still has to rule on the motion’s admissibility.
Foreign Affairs Minister, Carl Greenidge, said the move by the Opposition is against national interest.
