Caribbean news. The People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) decided to boycott the opening of the 11th Parliament so that it could continue its protest action outside the office of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on Wednesday, June 10.
The protest continued even though there is division within the Party ranks about its course of action but General Secretary, Clement Rohee, does not seem too bothered about the issue.
He told reporters at the protest that the PPP/C will go to Parliament when it chooses to do.
“We will be going to Parliament when we choose to do so and that will depend on a number of factors as well as how we evaluate the political situation in respect to the future perspectives and the future of the country,” the General Secretary said.
He further noted that “We chose not to go to Parliament for this opening session because we chose to continue our picketing exercise. At the appropriate time when we make the necessary assessment and analysis, Parliament will certainly come up for discussion.”
The PPP/C, being the only Opposition in Guyana, is yet to name its parliamentarians and even while the leadership decided to boycott the sitting, they are challenging the technocratic status of three government ministers.
When questioned by iNews as to whether their challenge would have had more of an impact if the PPP were in Parliament, Rohee disagreed.
“We chose to do it this way because we want to alert public opinion and we want to alert the Clerk so that before he does anything, he’s aware of what he’s going to do,” Rohee said.
Meanwhile, as it relates to PPP Member, Dr Vindya Persaud, who wrote a stinging email to the leadership, expressing her displeasure with their decision to boycott parliament, Rohee said it is her view and she was informed that the forum was not an “appropriate” one to air such.In the email, Dr Persaud wrote that she is against the planned protest today by the Party, pointing out that similar activities have gained minimal support from the public and its support base throughout the country. By Fareeza Haniff for http://www.inewsguyana.com
