Nandlall disagrees with claim of growing autocracy in Guyana

Attorney General Anil Nandall is now sharing is views on a publication by former Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights, Dr. Bertrand Ramcharran, who in a recent article stated that the PPP/C Government is operating in a seemingly autocratic way.

Two weeks ago, Dr. Ramcharan in a column in the Stabroek News, highlighted what he saw as autocratic tendencies in the current government. But the Attorney General has strongly disagreed.

Speaking during his weekly “Issues in the News” programme, the AG said Guyana has the Constitutional architecture in place that qualifies it as a democracy and not an autocracy and the Government has been working around those Constitutional safeguards.

“Firstly, I want to reject vehemently that characterization and classification of the government of Guyana and indeed the state of Guyana. I feel as Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General it is my duty to do so, so I reject his characterization, his hypothesis, contention and classification,” the Attorney General stated.

To further make his point, the Attorney General said the Government has, by its actions, been acting in a democratic manner. He said the establishment of the Public Service, Judicial and Police Commissions is one of the ways in which the government has tried to shield itself from being accused of handpicking persons and being labelled autocratic.

He stated too that the fact that Parliament and Parliamentary Committees are able to function without hindrance is another example of the government’s democratic nature. While he boasted that the Public Accounts Committee is able to carry out its work without hindrance, meetings of that Committee have been repeatedly cancelled over the absence of Government members.

Further, Mr. Nandall said the government’s support for the Judiciary’s independence and free speech is testament of its democratic nature.

“The fact that Mr. Ramcharran could have published that article in the Stabroek news without even an official response from the government is evidence that this is a democracy. You think if this was an autocratic regime, he could have published that? because he is maligning the government wrongly but he has a right to do so and we have a right to respond, and when we respond, apparently, we are autocratic that is not autocracy my friend” Nandlall stated.

The Government has always rejected accusations of not being democratic.