End of year Parliamentary Review
AFC Column
Kaieteur News
December 31, 2006
As we witness the end of this year the executive and members of the AFC should be proud of its parliamentary representation. We have led the way with questions and motions. Mr. David Patterson has the distinction of being the first Member of Parliament to invoke the new Standing Orders rule regarding the asking of oral questions without notice.
Mrs. Sheila Holder was the first Member to submit questions to the ninth Parliament while also utilizing the parliamentary questions for the debate process to seek to examine the issue of the Government's intention to introduce Casino Gambling.
Mr. Raphael Trotman has achieved the distinction of laying in the National Assembly a private member's bill to overturn the culture of secrecy and introduce greater transparency and accountability by introducing legislation dealing with Freedom of Information.
Ms. Chantalle Smith in a parliamentary Motion has challenged the impropriety of the PPPC Government with respect to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which was signed by former President Mrs. Janet Jagan, without reservation, while successive PPPC Governments have refused to uphold obligations under the Convention.
Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan contributed significantly in the ‘Sunset' legislation debate thereby contributing to the achievement of 100% representation by all AFC Parliamentarians in the sense that every AFC Member of Parliament has addressed the Assembly within the few short months of existence of the ninth Parliament.
No other party came even close to this record!
New Year Message
During this Christmas season we witnessed an abundance of goodwill that warmed our hearts with the many expressions of love and kindness for the less fortunate among us. May the New Year bring with it continued expressions of love and kindness among our people and new prospects for hope and new opportunities for all Guyanese.
This will demand that we take careful stock of our achievements and strive to strengthen our weakest links. The AFC urges Guyanese not to lose hope but to exercise their important role as citizens of Guyana, vested with the Constitutional mandate to participate meaningfully and responsibly in the social, political and economic activities of our country. It is your right - grasp it!
Every country has its own set of challenges and no one can deny that during the past year, our mettle was well tested in the face of rising levels of crime and violence, continued hardships for the working poor as the economy remained sluggish.
We in the AFC believe that until greater emphasis is placed on the disadvantaged among us, Guyana's wealth will remain hidden, so we urge that the needs of the poor be addressed in a meaningful way in the New Year.
As we bid farewell to the old year, let us begin this new one with a prayer of thanksgiving, for, like many, we have survived as a party despite great odds.
It is not immodesty, but a fact - the AFC made history in the 2006 Regional and General Elections in Guyana by winning five seats (we believe we're entitled to a sixth) in parliament after having been in existence for less than a year. This is something that no other political party has managed to accomplish in the history of Guyana.
Having achieved a presence in parliament and established ourselves as a viable political alternative, the AFC will maintain its commitment to serve all the people of Guyana and to continue to work in the best interest of the nation.
In particular, we take this opportunity to express our appreciation to all those who were brave enough to break with the tradition of racial politics by voting AFC in the last elections. You are the trend-setters who have laid the foundation for genuine accountability in government because the message has gone abroad that political change is on the horizon.
It is only a matter of time when others will follow because you have, by so doing, begun the process of breaking the fear associated with ‘splitting the vote'.
By splitting the vote you have initiated a process of breaking the racial curse that suffocated us politically for fifty years; and signaled your willingness to place greater emphasis on performance assessment as a political reward. Congratulations!
A Happy New Year to all Guyanese!