Leader of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) David Granger said that when he met with President Donald Ramotar last week he did not go with a “shopping list” but rather the main objective was to impress on the president that unless he changes the manner in which the country is governed and includes the opposition then there will always be problems.
“I told Mr Ramotar that he has to change his approach to governance or there would always be problems,” Granger told Stabroek News yesterday in an invited comment.
He pointed out that the way the ruling party is governing the country will always lead to gridlock in the National Assembly which the combined opposition controls by a majority of one seat.
Granger was asked about the specific issues his party raised during the meeting requested by Ramotar. The president also later met with the leaders of the Alliance For Change who in a later release listed a number issues it raised with the government including the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), the controversial issuing of radio licences, the non-assent to opposition bills and the Amaila Falls hydropower among others.
However, Granger said he did not go with a list as he pointed out that most of the issues raised by the AFC would have been included in a letter sent to the President in the run up to the budget which was signed by both himself and AFC’s leader Khemraj Ramjattan.
“It was a waste of time to go to Mr Ramotar with a shopping list which he had already rejected,” Granger noted.
He said during the meeting he discussed with the Head of State governance and pointed out that if he continues on the path he is on then there will be problems. He pointed out issues such as the non-assenting to opposition bills, the opposition not bei
ng allowed to make any input into the budget, not including contributions from the opposition in major projects, lack of consultations with the opposition in the removal of NDCs and installing IMCs and the government’s refusal to negotiate with unions such as the Guyana Public Service Union. These are all issues where the government has demonstrated bad governance, he contended.
“These were symptoms of very serious disease or pathology in government,” Granger said adding the government fails to realize that an opposition majority in Parliament is a fact.
“We are interested in a new mode of governance, we are not interested in going to OP (Office of the President) every few months with a shopping list,” he further said.
The Opposition Leader said that the party did not go to the meeting with an aim of making a deal but rather to make it clear that unless there is a new approach for inclusionary governance the country would not embark on true governance
“There must be a new approach, inclusionary…and more consultative.”
He described the meeting as a substantive one but stressed that the party was not in the business of making any deal.
Asked about the AFC’s public statement which indicated that he [Granger] according to President Ramotar had suggested that there be an advertisement for the position of Chancellor of the Judiciary, Granger said that the issue did not come up at the last meeting but rather about two months ago.
