The AFC yesterday wrote President Bharrat Jagdeo proposing that the upcoming Summit of the Americas be used as a platform to revive political cooperation between the government, the parliamentary opposition and civil society.
In the letter, AFC Leader Raphael Trotman urged the President to consider an inclusive approach in the country’s preparations for the April 17-19 Summit, in keeping with his stated commitment to realising an enhanced framework for cooperation. Trotman said the Summit offers “a unique opportunity” for the administration “to give effect to that new framework for cooperation,” especially in deciding the formulation of the national position on issues that are on the Summit’s agenda and also in composition of the Guyana delegation. Office of the President Press Officer Kwame McCoy could not confirm a response to Trotman’s letter last evening.
The Summit, which is being hosted in Trinidad & Tobago, is being held under the theme, “Securing our Citizens Future by Promoting Human Prosperity, Energy Security and Environmental Sustainability.” Among the heads of governments scheduled to attend is US President Barack Obama.
In his inauguration address nearly three years ago, Jagdeo advocated the need for political parties to work together under an enhanced framework of cooperation. However, at the half-way point of his last term in office there hardly appears to be any real cooperation between the parties in or out of parliament and the opposition have been constantly complaining about the absence of any meaningful participation.
This was among the factors that led to a renewed call by PNCR leader Robert Corbin for shared governance at the start of the year.
According to Trotman, Jagdeo undertook to “join forces with the political opposition and find innovative ways to work together to solve our problems,” committing to pursuing this end “within an enhanced framework for political cooperation, encompassing the principles of increased meaningful contacts, the identification and implementation of an agreed agenda of national issues and greater scope for the participation of civil society in the decision-making process.”
However, Trotman also noted that the President’s pledge has been implemented only in a cursory manner, in the aftermath of the 2008 Lusignan and Bartica massacres, which saw national stakeholders meeting on security.
Since then, he added, there have been no further meaningful engagements that would have demonstrated the government’s commitment to the process. Noting that unlike previous occasions, the Summit appears to have generated an air of excitement and great expectation, particularly in view of the prevailing global financial crisis, Trotman advocated an inclusive approach to the preparations. “In the circumstances, I respectfully invite you to consider the significance and benefits to be derived from such purposeful inclusiveness on this international stage,” he said.
