The Alliance For Change (AFC) political party is denying that Members of Parliament of the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Administration are trying to avoid the impending debate on a motion to challenge the hefty salary increases it has awarded Government Ministers and imposed upon all parliamentarians. The upcoming sitting of the National Assembly, where the motion to annul the increases was expected to be debated, was postponed by the Government. The request was made by AFC Executive Member Moses Nagamootoo who explained that several key Government functionaries, Members of Parliament and the Clerk of the National Assembly will be attending the Summit of South American Arab Countries (ASPA) which will be held in Saudi Arabia from November 9-13. The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Opposition has commented on this development and accused the Government of avoiding the debate on the motion and of putting their overseas travel above the domestic issues and the National Assembly. In response, the AFC denied these allegations. According to the party, the PPP/C was guilty of the same. “The AFC finds this to be hypocritical for the simple reason that it was the PPP, when faced with a motion of no confidence in 2014 that not only postponed the sitting of the National Assembly but shutdown the House. The PPP was fearful of that motion to the extent that it recklessly prorogued the Parliament which was derailed for a full nine months. It was the APNU+AFC coalition Government that rescued Parliament and re-convened the Assembly after the polls,” the press release stated. AFC insisted that the Government is ready to debate the motion while at the same time, accused the Opposition of playing a “game of cat and mouse with Parliament”. “It first boycotted important sittings, and then, not to lose pay for its MPs, quietly slipped into the House whilst petitioning the court to declare the Parliament illegal,” the AFC said in defending its stance and proving its point. Further, the AFC said it is “armed with cogent facts and statistics” that would “shame” the political Opposition “for giving its fat cat super salaries and perks for stashing away fabulous sums in secret bank accounts and causing the disappearance of vehicles and other state assets.” The AFC went on to say evidence of these “wrongdoings” are now coming to the fore, although in actuality, no such evidence of these allegations were presented nor were charges made against former Government Ministers to the extent which is alleged. Moreover, in undermining the gravity of the salary increase situation, the AFC said the hullabaloo was a “red herring” to divert attention from the PPP/C’s destruction of Guyana’s economy, bankrupting the sugar industry and failing to find alternative markets for rice. These accusations from the AFC partner of the coalition Government come on the heels of its Government neglecting to attend to the woes of the rice farmers and sugar workers who have staged plentiful protests about the plight of their respective industries and whose calls on the Government for much needed support have been apparently falling on deaf ears.