The government yesterday met the Alliance for Change (AFC) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) as the tripartite talks continued on a number of issues and an agenda has been agreed for further discussion starting with the next meeting on Tuesday of next week.
Among those representing the government at the meeting held at the Office of the President yesterday were President Donald Ramotar, Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon, Prime Minister Sam Hinds and Presidential Adviser on Governance Gail Teixeira. Those for the AFC were Khemraj Ramjattan, Gerhard Ramsaroop, Cathy Hughes and Clayton Hall while those representing APNU included David Granger and Dr Rupert Roopnaraine.
The next round of talks is set to continue at a meeting on Tuesday at the Office of the President.
“We just had the meeting and again on the tripartite basis. All of the parties were represented fully: APNU, the AFC and the PPP. We have agreed on what you can call an agenda and Ms Teixeira has been authorized to issue a communiqué on behalf of the entire group,” Granger told this newspaper in an invited comment.
“We have looked at certain issues which we have prioritized,” he said. He preferred not to speak too much on the issues and advised that the press await the communiqué. “We don’t want any discordant voices,” he said.
Stabroek News understands that the government was not very receptive to some of the measures that the opposition parties put forward for discussion.
It is understood that to feature prominently at the next tripartite meeting is the issue of the reform of the Guyana Elections Commission in the light of the upcoming local government elections.
The three parties began their talks on Friday after agreeing that the issues to be discussed were urgent ones. Prior to Friday’s meeting, it was felt that the talks fell cold because of what the government was terming a heist in the opposition gaining both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker posts when the first session of Parliament sat on January 12, 2012.
Granger, Leader of the Opposition, had said on Friday that the talks up to that point were conducted cordially.
He said they had discussed the structure and process of the tripartite relationship but nothing had been agreed upon.
Following the results of the general elections of November 28, 2011 during which the PPP lost its parliamentary majority, the parties have agreed to tripartite talks on several issues including the national budget for this year.
