Dear Editor,
For a few weeks and from a few voices, there have been questions about Parliament convening. Either the Honourable Minister for Parliamentary Affairs has a case of memory loss or ‘eye pass’ the people. Now comes the Minister as the righteous one to rebuke the kindergarteners as it relates to concerns about the sitting of Parliament. To directly quote the Minister, there is a “new style of diplomacy” that only listens “to one side and not the other.” And, on top of that, she added, “the engagement should be profound and respectful.” Seems to me those words are at worst vacuous and at best contradictory.
Wasn’t the right Honourable Minister seeking approval when submitting a 28-page document to the same group crying on the shoulder of the ABCers and complaining about the APNU? Wasn’t the Honourable Minister and her party of what has now become a cloaked if not borderline dictatorship pleading with the same kindergartners about democracy during the 2020 elections? Does listening to one side only work then? Does new style diplomacy only work conveniently? The rightful Minister needs to recognise that if their party is leading a sovereign nation, that stance must be maintained in times of trouble and in times of pain. A sitting and functioning Parliament reflects Democracy and the rule of law through the will of people. A sitting Parliament should tend to the people’s business. Parliament is not for the convenience of the ruling party.
Parliament has not met in almost one hundred days. That is painful. Now, suddenly there is a plan when the ABC class speaks. I cannot come to grips with the idea that the ABC class and not this legislature would first be made aware of a pending sitting date. Perhaps the Minister was read The-riot act?
My message to the Honourable Minister is clear. The appearance of cowardice cannot be hidden. The ABCers speak, and the government reacts. With the government giving away oil, gold, lumber, bauxite, and future of this nation’s children in the form of loans the rhetorical question becomes: What next?