With no indication as to when the suspension of the National Assembly will be lifted, the top American diplomat here yesterday said that the primary focus at this stage needs to be on moving towards general elections, ensuring a return to parliamentary democracy.
“…I look forward to the announcement from President (Donald) Ramotar as to when the electoral campaign will begin and as I (said) we’re already discussing very actively with the government, with the Guyana Elections Commission, with other stakeholders as to how the United States can play a constructive role in making sure that process moves forward and we see a return to a parliamentary democracy, a parliament that is elected by the Guyanese people to move the country forward,” Chargé d’Affaires at the US embassy here, Bryan Hunt said in an exclusive interview with Stabroek News yesterday.
“I think the primary focus needs to be at this stage on moving towards free and fair elections. President Ramotar has stated that he will shortly be announcing a date for those elections and our efforts really are focused on trying to work with the government, with the Guyana Elections Commission, with civil society to ensure that those elections are going to be free, fair credible and representative of the will of the Guyanese people so…I think its most important that’s where the energy and the focus remains on trying to move…towards an electoral process that will allow the Guyanese people to debate the big issues that are facing the country as they should and to make choices between the various alternative scenarios that the political parties put forward,” he said.
Suspended
Ramotar on November 10 last year, suspended the National Assembly to avoid a motion of no-confidence against him and despite saying he would do so early this year, the president has not named a date for elections. Ramotar’s government has found little support for prorogation which critics have argued has shut down the legislative branch of government and the forum through which the people’s representatives are heard.
The president is coming under increasing pressure to name a date for general elections and the United Kingdom on Monday warned that Guyana is on a “dangerous path” and the country could be referred to a Commonwealth body which deals with serious violators of democracy principles. In the UK’s strongest statements on the matter yet, British High Commissioner to Guyana Andrew Ayre urged the Ramotar administration to “get on with it” and called on the government to resume Parliament without further delay or lay out a timeline for the resumption of Parliamentary democracy.
Yesterday, Hunt urged that the focus be on the holding of general elections and disclosed that government has approached the US for assistance. He noted that Ramotar’s stated reason for proroguing the parliament – to have dialogue with the opposition- did not happen.
“…Our emphasis is on trying to work to make sure that that electoral cycle begins, that it happens, that it is free and fair as possible and I think that that’s really where the emphasis needs to be placed because we now have a clear direction in which the government intends to move the country, towards elections, that’s clearly the logical outcome of what is a lack of agreement between the parties in parliament as to how to move the country forward, they’re going to throw it back to the electorate and that’s in our view as it should be,” he said.
The US chargé d’Affaires said that he looks forward to the announcement as to when the electoral campaign will being and a return to parliamentary democracy.
Assistance
Hunt noted that the Guyana government has indicated that it will be seeking assistance from all of the international donors while GECOM has already indicated to donors, some of the areas that it would like to see assistance in as it moves forward in organizing the polls. As far as the United States is concerned, officials have talked through various scenarios with the government and with GECOM as to what sort of assistance they might wish to see from the United States and the Americans are discussing within their own government as to how they might be able to meet those requests.
The US diplomat said that the Guyana government and GECOM have made specific requests in terms of assistance but declined to elaborate on these while noting that it was nothing out of the ordinary. He said that the requests are still being considered and it would not be appropriate to say what the requests were or what the American response would be.
“The government has…initiated a dialogue with us, GECOM has initiated a dialogue with us about how we can assist in the upcoming free and fair electoral process,” he said.
Asked whether the US State Department had any discussions with members of the US Congress on the suspension of Parliament here, Hunt said that there are ongoing briefings all the time on a variety of topics. He said that the US Congress has not scheduled any special committee hearings or sub-committee hearings on Guyana but they certainly call and receive briefings from the desk officer who covers Guyana in the State Department, frequently.
The diplomat said that when he was in the US in November, he spoke with several staff members of one of the congressional committees that covers foreign affairs and who were interested in the situation in Guyana.
“But that’s not unusual…that’s something that goes on continuously with our Congress, they take their role in oversight and understanding of our foreign policy very seriously,” he said.
Great shame
The US diplomat said that there is still tremendous work that remains to be done in terms of cooperation within the political sphere within Guyana. “I think it’s a great shame and I’m not placing blame on anyone but I think it’s a great shame that we did not see the three parties coming together to collaborate on issues of national importance during the last parliament. I think that’s a lost opportunity,” he declared.
He said that given the results of the 2011 elections, the opportunity was there. “There was no question, there was a tremendous opportunity for all of the political parties to come together to work in the national interest of Guyana, to move the country forward, to develop new relationships across the aisle. It’s unfortunate that for reasons the Guyanese politicians can probably explain far better than I can, that opportunity never fully materialized,” Hunt said.
“I can’t predict what these elections will yield whether it’s going to be another parliament in which no party has an outright majority or whether one or more will capture it but I think the sentiment still holds true that for Guyana to move forward, the more that the three parties can work together in the national interest, the better off the country will be,” Hunt asserted.
The diplomat noted that initiatives such as the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project, the anti-money laundering bill and local government elections required collaboration but this did not happen. He said that while the US is no model in terms of inter-party collaboration, on certain core issues where the parties see a national interest at stake such as combating terrorists, they have found ways to come together, pass legislation and make the process work and this is going to be tremendously important going forward in Guyana.
“It’s not tenable to continue to have absolute and complete gridlock on every possible issue that comes before the National Assembly here,” he declared.
“However the results of the upcoming elections come out, my hope is that the three major parties or whichever fourth party emerges during the electoral process will find ways to vigorously defend their political turf without preventing progress on issues where the national interest is really at stake,” Hunt added.
