More than three months after President Bharrat Jagdeo met with representatives of opposition parliamentary political parties to discuss the furthering of a framework for enhanced political cooperation, the representatives are disappointed that there has been no further discussion.
However, Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon told Stabroek News on Friday that while there had been no meeting of all the representatives, Jagdeo had met on two occasions recently with the Opposition Leader and the leadership of the PNCR-1G.
While he was not certain about the outcome of that meeting, he said there was a draft agenda which was being vetted. It was expected that the next steps would emanate from the meeting between Corbin and Jagdeo, he said.
Noting that the two were the principal political leaders, he said that “from the more recent engagement the implementation of the enhanced framework for political cooperation would come.”
When contacted yesterday, Corbin told Stabroek News that since the opposition political parties met with Jagdeo, they had not met collectively. He said that on the two more recent occasions when he had met with Jagdeo he had understood it to be in his constitutional capacity as Leader of the Opposition and not as the Leader of the PNCR-1G.
In those encounters, he said, Jagdeo had not alluded to the agenda for the enhanced framework for political cooperation. The President had met him to brief him on the Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007 and subsequently on the issues of the Value Added Tax and the zero rating of consumer items.
Asked whether he had met with his colleagues in the opposition on these issues since his meeting with Jagdeo, Corbin said that he intended to meet with them soon.
It should not be suggested, he said, that he had met with Jagdeo on the issue of the framework since he, too, was awaiting a reconvening of the discussions on it. He noted that the President had named his political advisor, Gail Teixeira, to follow up on the issues.
GAP-ROAR MP Everall Franklin, when contacted told Sta-broek News that since the November 10 meeting there had been no direct follow-up with GAP/ROAR at least.
Franklin suggested that Jagdeo would have met with Corbin, but Corbin had not communicated with the parliamentary opposition parties afterwards, so he could not say what developments there would have been since.
Stating that it made no sense meeting jointly if it was only to fill time, he said that enough things had been discussed in November. He said it would be important to see if any of those things would actually be discussed in the future and in what context. “If you check, nothing has been done since and the ball is in his [the President’s] court,” he said.
With regard to the Leader of the Opposition meeting with the President without consulting the rest of the parliamentary opposition, Franklin said that Corbin would do what he felt would be in the best interest of the joint opposition. He added that it was in the interest of the Leader of the Opposition, who is also the leader of the main opposition, to forge a position with the minority parties.
If Jagdeo wanted to meet only with the PNCR-IG or only Corbin as Leader of the Opposition, then that was the President’s prerogative, Franklin said. However, the invitation only to Corbin on matters which should involve the joint opposition, could be a tactic to split the opposition. If the President was not involving the smaller parties “it is nothing new,” he remarked.
He said the onus was on the majorities to include the smaller political parties and civil society as well.
Commenting on the same issue AFC Chairman Raphael Trotman said that since the November meeting which went “very well” and where the draft of the framework governing matters to be given priority at meetings between government and opposition was begun, nothing had happened.
He said that potentially the engagement was worthwhile and showed promise based on the discussions, but there had been no meeting since it was agreed that the government would produce a paper on what had been decided so the political parties would get the opportunity to scrutinize it.
Among the issues discussed as priority areas for ongoing engagement, he said, had been crime and security, the economy, outstanding constitutional issues including the appointment of the chancellor and members of the integrity commission, municipal elections, CWC 2007, raising the profile and status of politicians and elected officials and the 2007 budget preparation (now being debated in parliament) and recall legislation.
During that meeting, too, the government had introduced the concept of recall legislation which was intended to ensure that MPs demit office on joining another political party.
Trotman said that he had had no feedback on the draft agenda and the initiative to continue rested with the President. Expressing a bit of disappointment, he said that at the time the discussions and the idea to meet on national issues had been promising. He said it was not intended to negate the primacy and efficacy of parliament but to be able to meet from time to time to try to resolve and advance issues of national importance.
He noted there had been a number of contentious issues in recent times which included the casino legislation and the introduction of the Value Added Tax which could have been discussed as part of the agenda.
The November 10 meeting was in keeping with President Jagdeo’s post-election commitments to inclusiveness and the development of a framework of cooperation among the parties. In his inaugural address after taking the oath of office, he had signalled his interest in dispensing with the feelings of animosity generated by the political campaigns in order to work to advance the goals of development and national unity.
He had said that that there would be scope for all political parties to work together under an enhanced framework of political cooperation, rooted in the primacy of parliament, grounded in a system that was responsive and accountable, and extended an invitation to civil society to deepen its participation in decision-making.