Work for your money
-PPP tells PNC MPs
Stabroek News
October 20, 2002
The PPP/C is calling on Opposition Leader Desmond Hoyte to come back to Parliament and start working for his taxpayer-funded stipend.
A Freedom House release yesterday said that although not attending parliament since March 15, 2002, Hoyte had collected "about $2M to perform duties as a Member of Parliament and the Leader of the Opposition. And his MPs have earned in excess of $8M in stipends to perform functions as Members of Parliament." It was a matter of collecting money for work not done, the party suggested. Asked to comment on the PPP statement, a PNC/R official yesterday said the party would do so after its publication.
The PPP noted too that "Mr Hoyte still enjoys all the facilities as Leader of the Opposition, costing taxpayers additional hundreds of thousands of dollars per month. PNC/R MPs have made full use of all privileges due to working Parliamentarians, including duty- free concessions for motor vehicles."
"Why would the PNC/R demand and collect salaries as MPs when they have stayed out of the Parliament and failed to carry out their basic task - representing those who voted for them? The PPP wishes to bring this disturbing ... act to the attention of the Auditor General's Department and the Integrity Commission", the release said.
The PNC/R on March 15 announced its intention to stop participating in the proceedings of the National Assembly and in the dialogue with the PPP/C until the decisions taken by Hoyte and President Bharrat Jagdeo were implemented.
Among the decisions awaiting implementation and on which the two parties are deadlocked, are the establishment of the parliamentary management committees and the four sectoral committees created by recent amendments to the Constitution. As result of the impasse the constitutional service commissions cannot now be reappointed. These commissions are the public, teaching, police and judicial service commissions.