Last week, the president and the leader of the opposition met, and contrary to what many had hoped for but what Guyana’s political legacy suggested was most improbable, they emerged from their hour-long meeting just as they went in – with only smiles! From the government side we heard that the no-confidence motion was passed but that there are questions about its legality that are before the court, and whether the government resigns must await the outcome of these proceedings. From the opposition we heard that the president and cabinet must resign at once and that government should become a kind of ‘caretaker’ administration, unable to make new policies or pass laws. And from both we heard that when elections can be held will depend upon the readiness of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) – oh yes, the same one with a chairperson and staff in which the PPP/C has claimed it has little faith! The leaders also adopted the usual public posture of calling upon their supporters not to be disruptive and alarmist, and from the pliant populace, so jaded by the perennial political bickering, there was much applause for the political maturity the leaders had demonstrated!
The PPP/C had called for the meeting but must have left it knowing that, apart from making noises to the country (its supporters I mean) and the international community about the regime being amoral and illegal, there was little it could legally and visibly do about the situation. Having failed to get the Speaker of the National Assembly to rethink and invalidate the no-confidence motion, the regime has two levers to achieve its goal of delaying and staying in government for as much of the remainder of its term of office as it wishes: the courts and GECOM. In relation to these, the end games will be the Caribbean Court of Justice and a new electoral list respectively, and many have taken this as another sign that the regime is set to remain in power post 2020 come what may!
Optimist as I am, the failure of the two parties to give even a hint that they had discussed anything substantial about working together does not deter me, for the breakdown of talks in such a forum could have been fatal, and both the PNCR and the PPP/C know about the creation and use of back channels in these circumstances. I am hoping that the leaderships of these parties are not so foolish as not to realise that what is taking place nationally, regionally and internationally in relation to Guyana must result in negative consequences if this ethnic tug-of-war continues.