The combined opposition met yesterday to fine-tune a campaign to internationalise their revulsion at the suspension of Parliament on Monday and they said they saw no prospect of talks with the government.
President Donald Ramotar’s decision to prorogue Parliament in a bid to avoid the collapse of his government via a motion of no-confidence has generated international concerns about the impact of this move on the country’s democracy. The Organi-sation of American States yesterday called for the suspension of Parliament to be for the shortest time possible (see page 10) and the Catholic Church here in a rare statement also expressed similar concerns (see page 2.)
The Alliance For Change (AFC) met with the four Western Missions yesterday and has already begun the process of contacting various international agencies.
AFC’s Vice Chairman Moses Nagamootoo told Stabroek News yesterday, after a meeting with the executive of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), that his party had pre-emptively written some of the international agencies alerting them to Guyana’s current political situation and the possibility of prorogation.
Nagamootoo said that the AFC was tasking key members with discussions with multiple stakeholders. He reiterated the party’s decision to not engage in any dialogue with the government. He said that the president’s decision to prorogue Parliament showcased the government’s longstanding attitude of disinterest in engaging in real and tangible discussions with the opposition.
Spurning of dialogue by the opposition with the government could back Ramotar into a corner, analysts say. In his address to the nation on Monday announcing the prorogation, Ramotar said that if dialogue was not possible then he would move to hold general elections.
“It is, however, my genuine desire to have the prorogation of the 10th Parliament ended sooner were my Government and the Opposition to reach an agreement for a return to normalcy. Further were these entreaties of cooperation by my government to be unsuccessful, I would then take the necessary steps for the holding of early General Elections so that the democratic will of our people can be freely exercised”, Ramotar said.
If as the opposition has signalled there is no prospect of dialogue, the pressure will be on the President to call elections far before the end of the six-month period that prorogation is permitted for.
The AFC’s vice chairman told this newspaper that the party would be continuing with its efforts to internationalise the issue writing to the Organisation of American States, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and Caricom.
Pressure
The party’s Chairman, Nigel Hughes and Executive Member Cathy Hughes met with APNU in the afternoon at the office of the Opposition on the joint measures that will be taken by the two groups. Vice Chairman of APNU, Joseph Harmon told Stabroek News after the party’s shadow cabinet that campaigning internationally would include asking the various missions and international agencies to put pressure on the government to resume parliament.
He said that APNU would be meeting with the American, British, Cana-dian and European Union envoys today. Harmon noted that APNU was not opposed to international sanctions being applied, a tactic that was used by the People’s Progressive Party against the People National Congress regime in the 1990’s. He said that the party was also reaching out to the Chinese and Brazilian Ambassadors due to the high level of influence both countries have on Guyana’s economic development.
Harmon told this newspaper that if the government intended to prorogue Parliament for six months then it was the opposition’s responsibility to “continue to make this government uncomfortable”. He said that the president’s remarks that prorogation means that an avenue has been opened for dialogue was nonsensical, “We are no longer in a place where we can converse with you in a rational way…you have made us homeless.”
He said that without the legislative branch of government functioning correspondence was not possible. Harmon stated that the president had a level of responsibility to the National Assembly and “when you extricate yourself from that and start to act on your own at the expense of all the other deliberative mechanisms in the National Assembly you are no less than a dictator.”
Leader of the Opposi-tion David Granger said that disengaging from talks with the government occurred as all attempts to engage were “futile.”
He emphasised that since May, APNU had promoted the call for local government elections and the opposition had been vocal and expressive in what it expects out of the anti-laundering legislation. He said that “President Ramotar knows exactly what his side has to do and this proclamation for prorogation is completely uncalled for.”
Granger said “Every-thing the APNU is concerned about has been put on the table and it is up to President Ramotar and the PPP to, I suppose, complete or to fulfil the discussions that we’ve had.”
Granger had in the past few days stated that he was not opposed to resuming engagements with the president, however he clarified yesterday “I am not saying there is no chance, there is no point.”
He noted that the government has shown no intention of compromising and that proroguing of parliament was another attempt by the government to avert cooperation. He emphasised that lack of cooperation has been evident for three years since the general elections of 2011 resulted in a new parliamentary dispensation where the opposition made up the majority of the House.
Analyst Henry Jeffrey in his Stabroek News column today stated that “the PPP’s contention that it is locking the doors of the National Assembly to encourage discussion or to call local government elections after months of its refusing to do so, is bizarre.”
He added that “this kind of idiotic explanation can only be directed at entrenched supporters, it is disrespectful of their very humanity, suggesting that the PPP believed that the condition into which these supporters have been brainwashed has left them with no alternative but to vote for it.”
Stabroek News understands that high ranking members of the government along with the President met with the four Western missions yesterday again. A meeting had occurred on Monday after the president’s proclamation to prorogue Parliament.
