Religious community shakes up vote of conscience on “casino” Bill
• meeting with President seen as “trump card”
Kaieteur News
January 18, 2007
The governing People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has repelled a suggestion by religious groups for a vote of conscience on the controversial Gambling Prevention (Amendment) Bill which will come up for debate on Friday.
The Christian community has issued a “call to prayer” and has also closed ranks with Muslims and Hindus in opposing the Bill, which the government said, seeks to legalise casino gambling as an economically driven activity in the tourism sector.
The proposal for a vote of conscience is part of a menu of measures aimed at derailing the passage of the Bill.
Other measures, including a call for a meeting with President Bharrat Jagdeo, were agreed to during a meeting on Monday between representatives from the Christian, Muslim and Hindu faith.
Kaieteur News understands that present at Monday's meeting were Bishop Randolph George of the Anglican Dioceses, Rev. Alphonso Porter of the Guyana Council of Churches, Al-Hajj Fazeel Ferouz of the Central Islamic Organisation (CIOG), and Pandit Rabindranath Persaud of the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha.
They were accompanied by other members of their organisations.
When contacted, PPP/C General Secretary Donald Ramotar said that the Bill is not as controversial as the religious community is painting it.
Further, he added that the Bill does not warrant a vote of conscience, since the introduction of casino gambling is a governmental policy rooted on sound economic and developmental grounds.
“There is absolutely no ground, at least from our perspective, for there to be a vote of conscience. There is no swirling controversy and certainly casinos are being introduced with much state control to prevent widespread gambling…we support this as an economic activity,” Ramotar stated.
The vote of conscience was last utilised in 2005 when Parliament passed a Bill to legalise abortion, and again in the debate on the Sexual Orientation Bill.
This type of voting frees members of the House from voting along party lines on controversial and moral issues by allowing them to vote based on their own convictions.
Members could decide to vote for or against the Bill, or abstain.
Ferouz stated that the group is planning to host a live call-in programme shortly, where members of the public will be asked to call up a Member of Parliament from their community and persuade them to vote against the Bill.
“The vote of conscience is critical here if the government is going ahead with this Bill as is their stated position. At least each Member of Parliament should be accountable for their actions,” Ferouz stated.
Rev. Porter stated that a massive prayer vigil is to be hosted at the St. Andrews Kirk on Thursday from 22:00hrs to 00:30hrs, and on Friday from 10:30hrs.
He noted that contrary to their actions last Thursday outside Parliament when the group staged a picketing exercise, Rev. Porter said prayers were the way forward.
“We are not ruling out other options and we are continuing to meet to discuss the issue of casinos,” Rev. Porter added.
Religious leaders said that Casino gambling is undoubtedly a potential menace to any society, which creates a situation that cannot be rivaled with debates and public outcries.
They said that while the very fabric of the Guyanese society is under threat, the answer to the problem is not rooted in religious leaders staging forums to debate the issue.
• According to one of the leaders, while the religious community has a right to vocalise its opinion, it is placed in a strategic position where it should rely on divine intervention.