GUYANA | Meeting with US Congressional Delegation "highly Successful" says Opposition

GEORGETOWN,  Guyana, October 1m, 2023 - Guyana’s parliamentary opposition say they held successful discussions with members of the Congressional Black Caucus when they visited Washington last week.

A statement from APNU+AFC said “Discussions centered on governance issues, elections in Guyana, developments in the local oil and gas sector and the opposition’s position on recent pronouncements from Venezuela.”

“High on the agenda was the delegations’ request for support from the CBC with regards to articulating the necessity for the compilation of a new voters list prior to the next General Elections in Guyana, a call supported by the Commonwealth, OAS and Caricom observer groups and even by the PPP prior to 2020.”

The legislators told members of the CBC that they “recognized that amendments to the current law could easily be facilitated, provided that the government had the necessary political will.” 

In addition, “biometrics at the place of poll to reduce the occurrence of fraud which existed in the 2020 elections results was also discussed as an important way of engendering greater confidence in election results and to enhance the work of [the Guyana Elections Commission] GECOM.”

They went on to say that “Governance issues were discussed in the context of Article 13 of the Constitution of Guyana and its admonishment for the creation of an “inclusive democracy”.  The destruction of the guardrails of democracy that is currently taking place in Guyana by the PPP government was highlighted.” 

The Opposition parliamentarians lamented to that “at the parliamentary level the now regular absenteeism of the government side which has resulted in the cancellation of 15 PAC meetings, the infrequent meetings of parliament, and the overall lack of transparency and accountability and exclusion of the opposition in the decision making of the State have cemented fears that Guyana is fast moving to a one-party autocratic State.”

In terms of the economy, the Opposition pointed out that “more of the current US billions of dollars in oil revenues being allocated to mega infrastructure projects should be directed into the pockets of ordinary Guyanese, the majority of whom still live below the poverty line.”

“The recent IHS Markit audit in which US$214 million was claimed as cost recoverable expenses, which was subsequently reduced to US$3 million was highlighted as evidence of gross incompetence in the management of the sector and just a snapshot of the massive corruption in this sector.

The CBC informed the parliamentarians that they were “acutely aware” of the situation in which  Guyana currently exists and had been  eager to hear the oppositions’ plans for a better Guyana.

The delegation said they took the opportunity to highlight their plans for constitutional, social and infrastructure advancement, articulated strong support for Government’s

position on the border controversy with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, at no point in the meeting was proof of racial discrimination in Guyana raised or requested.

The APNU+AFC parliamentary delegation presented the Congressional Black Caucus with a comprehensive dossier with several appendices related to all the matters raised during the discussions and both sides agreed to keep the channels of communication open.

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