The Alliance for Change (AFC) wants the Private Sector Commission (PSC) and the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GCCI) to showcase the same enthusiasm they are expressing over the Opposition’s lack of support for the amendments to the Anti Money Laundering Bill to other causes and issues of Governance in Guyana.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the AFC said it is as deeply concerned as the PSC, the GCCI  and other organisations about the potential blacklisting of Guyana but the concern is overshadowed by the “Government’s   repeated opposition to the establishment of constitutionally mandated organs  like the  Public Procurement Commission (PPC) coupled with  His Excellency’s promised and delivered  obstruction to the legislative agenda of the majority of its citizens.”

The Party said it remains disappointed at the urgency which some  sectors of the country have recently found to express their concern about  the detrimental effects on the nation state but notes the absence of similar intensity and concern about the establishment of mandatory constitutional bodies and assumption of judicial office by the President when he pronounced on the legality of the “Opposition bills”.

Both of the Opposition parliamentary parties have indicated that they intend to withhold support from the amendments to the Bill when it comes up for debate this week. Leader of the Opposition and APNU Leader David Granger has indicated that his party cannot support the amendments currently because it was not given enough time to study the amendments and other documents related to the Bill. APNU officials have said they only received many of the documents related to the legislation last week, although the Government had those documents for weeks and months.

The Government of Guyana has strongly criticised the Opposition’s position on the issue. Cabinet Secretary Dr. Roger Luncheon while admitting that there is now a rush to get the legislation passed in keeping with the international deadline is hoping that the Opposition parties would “rise above the political fray” and support the Government’s efforts.

The AFC said the government appears to be in a panic mood and has itself to blame for the position it now finds itself. The AFC wants to know “so why this emergency now when our Ministers of Government spent many hours in the studios of NCN engaging in nasty political propaganda rather than at their desk doing the Government’s work.”

If Guyana fails to pass the legislation by May 27, 2013, the country runs the risk of being blacklisted by a number of international financial organisations.

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