A one-party government is not an ideal model for Guyana and People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Vice-Chairman Dr George Norton yesterday said that there is no reason why the party would want to contest another election singly again.
Norton, also the Minister of Social Cohesion, made the statements at a press conference at the PNCR’s headquarters, Congress Place, in Sophia. The comments came against the backdrop of him highlighting the party’s support for the currently ongoing house-to-house registration by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
Norton said that unlike the opposition – the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) – they are convinced that the credibility of the upcoming elections is dependent on the integrity of the Official List of Electors (OLE), and they recognise and are respectful of the independence of GECOM, which, he said, is insulated by Guyana’s Constitution from political influence, instruction and interference.
“The PPP still believes in one-party government, even though over four decades of that style of governance shows that it is the wrong model for Guyana. They are desperate to grab power back by whatever means they can, and we need to be on guard to ensure that the Constitution of Guyana is upheld and that we have fair and credible elections,” he said.
Norton was questioned on whether the party’s idea regarding one-party government would eliminate the possibility of them running alone in future elections.
“I must let you know the PNC is noted for forming alliances before and the change from PNC to PNCR was a [classic] example of that. The fact that we are now in a coalition continues along that line and there should be no reason why we would want to go PNC alone again,” he responded.
The PNCR is the largest constituent of government coalition partner, A Partnership for National unity (APNU).
Meanwhile, Minister of Finance Winston Jordan was also present at the PNCR press conference and spoke of the accomplishments of the coalition government, including the increases in wages for public servants, who, he said, were “suffering with starvation wages” under the previous PPP/C administration. He added that public servants can expect increases in salaries this year and for 2020.
“All I am prepared to say is that public servants can look forward to salary increase in 2019 and bigger increases in 2020. It would be expected in any economy where we are having these bounties that one of the first objectives for us is to improve the welfare of our people and public servants are part of that process,” Jordan said, while adding that public servants can also expect a “better all-round package.”
He was questioned on the extent of actions the caretaker APNU+AFC government can take as it relates to preparation and presentation of the National Budget. The Caribbean Court of Justice has established that a caretaker government now exists following the passage of a no-confidence motion against the government last December.
Jordan explained that the National Budget involves preparation, presentation before the National Assembly, deliberations on the speeches and estimates, implementation of the budget, monitoring and evaluation, and a thorough audit until the cycle restarts.
“We are in the first phase, which is preparation but we will not be presenting the budget and the president also said that…we will not have the capacity to present the budget as such but the preparation is being done. Once we win the elections, we hit the ground running but we ourselves can adjust that budget as the winning government,” he said, while noting that in 2015, the APNU+AFC government took office with a “substantially prepared budget” that was used.
Jordan was also questioned by Stabroek News about the reluctance of the David Granger-led Cabinet to resign in keeping with the constitution.
“I would say to my supporters not to listen to fake news. I would say to them to listen to credible news sources where it has been outlined, most recently yesterday by the president himself, exactly what is the state,” the minister said.
When questioned further about the reasoning behind the decision, Jordan said that President Granger and the government’s leaders including Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo and Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan have all explained why Cabinet remains in place and “I do not really need to go over that.”
