PNCR presidential candidate David Granger says the opposition parties working on an elections coalition are close to naming a presidential candidate and running mate, ahead of a joint campaign launch later this month.
“We are close but the actual mechanism has not been agreed on,” Granger said yesterday, while noting that his name would be advanced by the PNCR to head the coalition.
The Joint Opposition Political Parties (JOPP), also referred to as the ‘Group of Four,’ has discussed various mechanisms, according to Granger, including whether the selection should be done by a poll or by consensus.“I think it is just a matter of [being] hours away… that we can agree on the means by which a presidential candidate is chosen,” he told Stabroek News.
Granger had previously indicated an interest in heading the coalition, but yesterday cautiously handled the question of who will lead. The PNCR, he said, believes he stands a good chance of being nominated by JOPP to head its slate. “The whole country has come to respect the primary process within the PNCR. No other party has put their nominees through a similar process to arrive at a candidate,” Granger said.
In keeping with JOPP’s Statement of Principles, he said the slate would be a “joint one,” while adding that the parties will also have a joint launch and a joint manifesto. The launch is expected sometime this month after the PNCR’s General Council scheduled for May 21.
Granger reiterated an earlier point he made about the JOPP reaching certain conclusions, saying the party is hoping to have something for its membership to deliberate on at the Council. He noted that the party is likely to receive recommendations from the membership, which will help to fortify the discussions within JOPP.
Granger stressed that JOPP is focused on establishing a government of national unity. “For the first time in this country, after the successful completion of national elections we would have established a government of national unity,” he added.
The issue of power sharing though relevant is not foremost on Granger’s political agenda, since he is of the opinion that establishing a government of national unity is more critical. “I think our actions are far ahead of what [people] are talking about,” he said, stressing that the JOPP is committed to principles and not power. He said too that the actions of the main opposition party over the past years have demonstrated that it believes in power-sharing.
Members of the JOPP include the Peoples’ National Congress Reform, the Working People’s Alliance, the Guyana Action Party and the National Front Alliance. Recently, Peter Ramsaroop and his People’s Partnership joined the talks but it has since suspended the engagement.
Meanwhile, Granger addressed the issue of his candidacy re-energising African Guyanese as observed by political activist Tacuma Ogunseye. “I think my candidacy has re-engergised the entire nation. I don’t see myself as an ethnic icon, I see myself as Guyanese and I think the support that I got around the country both inside and outside the party is across race,” he said.
Granger said support has been flowing in from across ethnicities, noting that the impact of his candidacy has not been restricted to African Guyanese. “It’s broad-based and I’m very happy about that,” he said, while adding that his focus is on all Guyanese.
