Opposition has greasy hands

THE GUYANESE OPPOSITION HAS GREASY HANDS and did not hold on to the ball to
cross the finish line, said outspoken Alliance For Change (AFC) Regional Councillor, Mr. Norris
King.
With vaccine hesitancy a major national hurdle, the government has taken steps to pressure the
unvaccinated to take the COVID-19 jab for protection against the highly contagious and deadly
pandemic currently sweeping the globe.
The government decision has raised the ire of many Guyanese, especially the Guyana Public
Service Union (GPSU) a major workers representative which heavily-criticised the measure over
the weekend.
For King, the current government stance is not mandatory vaccination, but rather forced
vaccination.
“I personally don’t have an issue with the injection but anybody being forced to take the
injection because it’s not a vaccine, yellow fever is a vaccine, MMR is a vaccine, Tetanus is a
vaccine because when you get those things it prevents a couple of things. This injection that they
giving you, they don't have a right to decide whether you want it or not,” King explained.
King is disappointed that the major coalition opposition A Partnership for National Unity,
Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) dropped the ball in the current controversy. However, he is
encouraged that many private citizens are fiercely defending their rights. This issue, King said,
will be the litmus test for determining whether the public will trust the parliamentary opposition
in the future to champion their concerns.
“Once again this is a show or test of the capabilities of the opposition and so far, we are making
a mess of it. I think we would have dropped the ball on this one because for me, even though the
leader of the opposition and others would have taken or most of them would have taken their

injection so as to attend parliament, that was a choice that they made. It doesn't mean that
because you made a choice that you should just allow the government to trample on the rights of
everybody,” the Regional Democratic Councillor (RDC) Upper Demerara/Berbice (Region Ten)
official said.
Opposition Leader, Mr. Joe Harmon and his colleagues must defend the rights of the
unvaccinated, King argued.
“You need to support those who are standing and saying that I have a right to not take it the same
way. This is not about the injection; this is about democracy in action and taking away one’s
freedom to choose which is enshrined in the constitution of Guyana.”
“Just like myself and any other right-thinking Guyanese, the opposition has a choice as to what
issues they are going to be forceful in representing, and what issues they are going to be laid
back on. It seems as though the opposition may have made a decision that they are going to stand
back on this one,” King said.
“If you look at the personal protests and how people are coming out behind these persons, these
people never called for any mass protests, like Nigel London and others. These people decided
that they are going to go by themselves and protest individually and look at how it is attracting
the momentum of the masses so then that in itself…I mean we (opposition) should not have
waited because I am a part of the opposition, we shouldn’t have waited for private citizens to
start this thing. It is our responsibility,” King declared.
“I will continue to advocate like I have been doing on social media. We all know sooner
rather than later, it’s going to be a push back,” the RDC official King warned.