The ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has lashed back at APNU+AFC for accusing President Irfaan Ali of consulting Leader of the Opposition Aubrey Norton in bad faith.
At a press conference on Tuesday, APNU+AFC Shadow Attorney General, Roysdale Forde SC accused the President of consulting in bad faith after he invited Norton to a meeting on May 13 without furnishing him with the requisite information.
At last Friday’s meeting, Norton requested that the curriculum vitae of proposed appointees for the various constitutional commission be provided for perusal prior to future discussions and President Ali has agreed to make those documents available to him.
When asked about this on Tuesday, Norton related that while he has received “some” CVs, the other materials are still outstanding and not in keeping with the tenets of meaningful consultation.
Following the meeting last week, a joint statement was issued by both parties which identified the areas discussed and the way forward.
The statement said that during the meeting, it was further agreed that the “consultations will be guided by the Constitution and the in-person consultations will resume on a date to be fixed, but within a week”. Under the laws of this country, the President and the Opposition Leader must hold consultations, guided by the respective clauses, for the appointment of the Commissioner of Police, Chancellor of the Judiciary, and Chief Justice.
However, in a strongly-worded statement yesterday, the PPP took umbrage with the Opposition’s claims and accused it of being contradictory.
“Within an hour of the same activity, the PNCR moved from claiming that the May 13, 2022 engagement was not in accordance with the requirements of ‘meaningful consultation because necessary material was not handed over, to admitting that the additional information and documents requested were received.
“Mr Norton was woefully unprepared for the meeting, despite being informed of the agenda and despite the fact that his own Coalition was involved in the Parliamentary process to arrive at the recommendations for the persons to be appointed to the Commissions, for example, the Police Service Commission (PSC),” the Party’s statement read.
It added that now that all of the information has been provided to Norton, there should be no delay in arriving at a consensus to appoint the important constitutional bodies.
At Tuesday’s press conference, the Opposition also called for a widespread national consultation on the current amendments to Guyana’s election laws. Norton had said that they would be petitioning President Ali to hold comprehensive national consultations before they accept any amendments to the electoral laws.
The government, since November 2021, has been inviting submissions from civil society, GECOM and political parties on the proposed amendments to the Representation of the People Act (RoPA). To date, the Opposition has not participated in that process and when asked about the six months delay, Norton said that it is strategic.
“We understand politics in Guyana. If we had ran out and be in the forefront opposing what the PPP was doing, it would have been seen as political. What we have allowed, and we did comment for instance when the Electoral Reform Group gave its positions, we did say it was welcomed etc. What we have allowed is for civil society and others to comment, we have supported it and we believe that at the right time we will engage and ensure we achieve the objectives we set out.
“I believe, unlike the People’s Progressive Party, there is a place for civil society and if the political space can be created for civil society to act then one stands a better chance of finding consensus and moving forward. It is in that context we operate in,” Norton told the media conference.
The Opposition had also called for a thorough review by GECOM of its performance in managing the 2020 elections; in-depth involvement of experts on electoral laws, electoral systems, elections technologies, and elections management; and holistic constitutional and legislative amendments or enactments.
“Time is of essence in initiating and completing these reforms to prevent extended postponement of local government elections. Once the PPP government demonstrates good faith, the financial, human, and other resources can be readily mobilized. Once all parties put Guyana first, delays can be minimized. Guyana deserves no less.
“So convinced, the APNU+AFC intends to formally raise with President Ali that the country needs to urgently undertake comprehensive electoral reform within a genuine national consultation process. My party will not support the autocratic imposition of changes to our electoral system. Accordingly, we reject the present PPP-led so-called national consultation on RoPA,” the Opposition Leader said.
Meanwhile, addressing the Opposition’s comments on electoral reform, the PPP said that the APNU+AFC Coalition has failed, over the past six months, to participate in the national process to amend Guyana’s electoral laws to strengthen the electoral system. It dubbed the recent call as “nothing but a delay tactic.”
“Mr Norton’s call for national consultations, involving the public, civil society and the parliamentary political parties, is disingenuous since such consultations on proposed amendments to the Representation of the People Act (ROPA) started in November 2021 and are continuing. The PNCR-led APNU+AFC Coalition is the only party with an interest in keeping our electoral laws vague and ambiguous, hence the delay tactics,” PPP said.
It added, “…were the increasingly embattled Parliamentary Opposition truly interested in a free, fair and transparent process, they would not continue to undermine the national consultations on proposed amendments that would see electoral reform enacted.”
