Although emphasising the need for cohesion and national unity, PPP General Secretary yesterday skirted questions about how the party would be working with the other two parliamentary forces, APNU and the AFC, to advance unity on the political front.
At the party’s weekly press briefing at Freedom House, Rohee made it clear that the party will not engage APNU as the parliamentary recess is about to draw to a close, while adding that there has been no concrete offer of communication by any of the two opposition groups to seek formal engagements.
When asked directly if the PPP would be contacting the APNU to discuss the way forward, Rohee said that the PPP’s view has always been to “speak to everybody in Guyana” and not just its supporters.
Although the PPP and the opposition parties continue to sound off issues during their weekly briefings, the parties have not been engaging in dialogue on these issues, such as the holding of local government polls, for which the main opposition has been campaigning as well as breaking the parliamentary impasse on the anti-money laundering bill.
“The PPP is of the view that the future of this country is dependent largely on our diverse people working together for the common good through broad consensus on issues of national importance. Indeed, the PPP has always embraced political and ideological pluralism and inclusive governance in which every Guyanese can become meaningfully involved in the process of national development,” Rohee nonetheless claimed.
When asked what power sharing models the party has contemplated that would lead to meaningful dialogue should the party not regain a majority in the Parliament should national elections be held, Rohee noted that power sharing methods were not arbitrary measures that could easily be adopted by one and every nation. He stressed that there was no “one model that fits all.”
Rohee said too that the party was not focusing on the likelihood that it would suffer a greater electoral loss should national elections be called. “Our political goals as well as our political ambition, if we could call it electoral ambition, is fundamentally speaking to regain our one seat majority in the parliament,” he stated.
During the press briefing Rohee called on “the Guyanese people not to be fooled by those who by their very actions have been responsible for the rupture of our economic and social fabric by putting roadblocks on a number of key development projects and by aligning themselves with forces that have been responsible for the destruction of our democratic, economic and cultural institutions.”
