In an apparent about-turn, President Bharrat Jagdeo has signalled renewed interest in “enhanced collaboration” with the political opposition.
Jagdeo made a pitch for a new framework for cooperation last Sunday at the commissioning of the Kitty pump station, saying that national issues are bigger than partisan political interests, but the opposition parties have greeted his renewed interest with scepticism. ”We need to work closer at the national level,” Jagdeo said, explaining that “If we get that framework where all the parties can work in a collaborative fashion, we can make more progress. We can move our country faster forward. I want to do this.”
However, his statements came less than a month after he said national development would not hinge on political cooperation and that dealing with “real issues” would not await meetings between the political parties. “We have to move beyond the point of talk and demonstrate by actions,” Opposition Leader Robert Corbin said on Monday, in response to the President’s comments. He added that “agreements and talks mean absolutely nothing unless we see evidence of good faith and willingness to implement.” He further noted that there is need for evidence of the president’s sincerity. Corbin cited the failure to introduce Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation, the non-appointment of the Public Procurement Commission as well as the failure to set up an independent broadcast authority as being among the significant issues that are still to be addressed despite long-standing agreements. He also lamented the administration’s approach to the local government reform process, pointing to the abandonment of a bi-partisan task force as well as the passage of controversial legislation that would allow government complete control over appointments to the Local Government Commis-sion. “So if the President wants to demonstrate that he is serious about political cooperation, then they [the government] should begin by implementing those things which have already been settled,” Corbin stressed.
Corbin’s New Year’s address, in which he urged a united commitment to moving the country forward, was welcomed by President Jagdeo, who said it could be used as an opportunity to shed baggage, out of the recognition that national issues are paramount. “…There are bigger issues than our parties that we belong to,” Jagdeo said, while reiterating “I am Guyanese before I am PPP.” He added that where national interests conflict with the ruling party’s interests, he would sacrifice the latter.
Speaking about the need to work towards “some form of enhanced collaboration” between the political parties, Jagdeo noted on Sunday that success would require a framework based on respect and driven by the desire to respond to the needs of all people. He warned that any “contrived arrangement” that was subject to a “partisan agenda” would not succeed. “…As I have said before, I am prepared to work for the bigger framework, I am prepared to do that,” he said. “But we must do this without baggage, without partisan approach, where the good of our country comes and the good for the people in our country is the primary concern,” he added.
AFC leader Raphael Trotman is, however, apprehensive, saying the President Jagdeo’s posture appeared to be “politically convenient.” He pointed out that despite Jagdeo’s professed commitment to working towards an enhanced framework for cooperation after the last general election, there have been several “false starts” but “no discernable steps” to this end. Trotman noted the President’s failure to follow-up on the initial engagement with the parliamentary opposition parties in the immediate post-election period as well as the more recent reluctance to sustain the Stakeholder Forum that was convened last year after two massacres. Moreover, he noted that only weeks ago the President said development would not be hinged on political cooperation. “So, I would be quite cautious about jumping into anything since we don’t know which President Jagdeo we are dealing with-because they are like day and night,” he said, noting that the approach to the opposition seems to correlate with the setting.
It is in this context that Trotman urged that the President “clearly” define what he means by “enhanced cooperation,” so that the party could decide how to proceed. “The AFC is always willing but the nation would understand and appreciate our apprehension,” he said.
Previously, GAP-ROAR MP Everall Franklin also lamented that it has been only in cases of national emergencies that attempts are made to secure a common approach. “Then we go back to how we were before,” he said, adding, “The political climate is certainly one that needs to be enhanced.” Franklin said while the parties are working together at the parliamentary committee level in a “mostly non-contentious” manner, there needs to be dialogue at various levels. “It has been disheartening that we only get together in cases of national emergency and the fact that we are not talking is responsible for these emergencies and dialogue is the only way to head them off,” he noted.
At a news conference in late December, President Jagdeo had said while it is desirable to have political cooperation to move the country forward, he would not delay dealing with “real issues” in order to win approval from a political group. “If you have people who don’t want to participate in national life and who feel they have to find fault with everything, then I simply have to go forward,” he said when asked if anything would be done to address the fact that there was no significant development in dialogue with the political opposition last year.
At the outset of his final term in 2006, President Jagdeo pledged to pursue national unity and development with the broadest participation. He had assured 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 is responsive and accountable, and extended to civil society to deepen its participation in decision-making. However, he and the opposition parties have traded blame for the failure to realise the “enhanced framework” for cooperation, with the latter accusing the administration of only seeking collaboration in times of emergency.
