The 13th Parliament of Guyana was convened this afternoon at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre with the flair of a runway fashion show and a car show in one.
Government and Opposition Members stepped out in style for the first sitting, many of them with their own camera teams to capture their every move. Then the newly elected team for the WIN party arrived with its leader, Azruddin Mohamed who is facing an extradition request, arriving in his luxury Lamborghini sports car that is at the center of criminal tax proceedings in both Guyana and the United States.
Once the MPs were in place in the main auditorium of the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, the Clerk of the Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs, did a roll call of all of the elected members before the Speaker and Deputy Speaker were elected and then all of the MPs took their oath of office one by one.
The sitting went on for just over two hours, as the Assembly dealt with the presentation of a number of reports following the swearing in ceremony.
Just after the adjournment of the Assembly, the WIN party Leader, Azruddin Mohamed said now that he is an elected Member of the National Assembly, he along with the 15 other WIN Members of Parliament, will hold the Government accountable.
“To hold the Government accountable and to ensure the people of this country get their fair share,” Mohamed said.
Meanwhile, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said the PPP/C returns to the National Assembly with a large majority, occupying a total of 36 seats in the House. He said its indication of the high level of confidence the people of Guyana have placed in the party.
“We are looking forward to serving the people and implementing the exciting agenda. So, it is a great day for the PPP and for the country. So, we are excited, and you could see that in the faces of all the ministers and they want to get going,” the Vice President said.
He said the Government is currently fleshing out its ideas to ensure it remains committed to its manifesto promises.
“I can assure you that right now, we have been busy for the past couple of months engaged in putting together, planning, not just conceptualizing but actually working out many of the initiatives we promised in the manifesto, that is, how are we going to get help for people who want to build homes, how we are going to build 40,000 homes in five years, how we are going to ensure that we have day care centers across the country for mothers who want to work,” the Vice President said.
Parliamentary Leader for APNU, Dr Terrence Campbell said the APNU has already crafted a number of motions and questions to be submitted to the Assembly for its consideration.
“We will touching everything from digitization, financial sector reforms, agriculture issues, education, immigration, those are just some of the big items we will be touching on in this sitting of the Parliament, and we have already submitted questions, motions and bills,” Dr Campbell said.
He said the MPs are ready to work and will champion the issues affecting citizens in the House.
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