April 13, 2016 Source

Just shy of a year since the APNU+AFC coalition swept the PPP/C out of office, the AFC and the government face delicate talks over how to address serious differences and contain a burgeoning scandal around Minister of State Joseph Harmon without undermining their February 14, 2015 alliance.

The AFC appeared to take President David Granger and its senior partner APNU by surprise when it issued a statement from a retreat on Sunday saying that the concentration of various powers in Harmon was responsible for the problems that had flared up in recent days around the government. Harmon has been beset by a string of allegations pertaining to his appointment of businessman Brian Tiwarie as a business adviser, interfering with the work of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and a still-to-be-explained trip to China where he had contact with representatives of controversial logging company, Baishanlin.

The AFC promised to raise the matter of Harmon’s powers at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting and did so but from all reports received by Stabroek News it didn’t get very far.

“There was a discussion but it has not been concluded and it will continue,” the AFC’s  David Patterson, also the Minister of Public Infrastructure, told Stabroek News yesterday when contacted.

“It will be continued. I am not too sure. We didn’t set a specific date,” he added, when probed as to a timeline for continuation or possible resolution.

However, a source told Stabroek News that the matter was not discussed in depth and that “possibly due to time constraints” a resolution to the issue could not be had.

Analysts say that both the AFC and the APNU-led government face substantial risks if the disagreements aren’t managed. They note that the AFC’s public statement on Sunday underlined that there appeared to be no conflict resolution mechanism between the two partners despite assurances at the launch of their coalition last year. Further, by going public with a raft of disagreements with the government, the AFC risks a loss of face if it doesn’t elicit mature compromises particularly as there is the view that its electoral appeal has waned over the last two elections.

Already, the analysts point to the collateral damage for the party as a result of Monday’s shock announcement by AFC Chairman Nigel Hughes that he was quitting. Hughes’s resignation came just a day after the statement calling for Harmon’s powers to be trimmed was issued from the retreat. Hughes was present at the retreat but sources say that since the issuing of the statement several influential AFC members have objected to it, sparking Hughes’s move to quit. The party is moving in the direction to have Hughes withdraw the resignation but analysts noted that statement has sharpened the divisions in the party which holds 12 seats in Parliament.

Harmon was not the only area of contention raised by the AFC. Its statement on Sunday declared that the report of the Commission of Inquiry into the death of Walter Rodney provides an opportunity to address  a difficult period in the country’s history and the basis for national reconciliation. On the other hand, Granger himself has repudiated the report and skewered its findings. One of the key findings of the report was that the PNC – now the PNCR which Granger heads – had to have been aware of the plot to kill the famous historian.

Yesterday, the AFC delivered another area of contention in a brief statement where it said that criticisms were raised at the retreat about how the planned closure of the Wales sugar estate was handled and that the party vice-chair and Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo advised that the government should meet and dialogue with the sugar workers. Since the government announced the closure of the estate in January, no senior government official has travelled to Wales to speak to the sugar workers about the decision and their future.

Fallout for the government could be even costlier if the controversy swirling around Harmon goes on abated. Analysts say that the AFC’s call for Harmon’s powers to be pared could have been seized upon by Granger as a means of defusing the controversy around his minister. The analysts say Granger could have decided to remove one or more functions from Harmon and this would have offered both a compromise to the AFC and assuaged some of the criticisms of Harmon.

Instead, analysts note that on Monday evening at the launching of DDL’s 50-year-old rum, Granger closed that option out when he said “As far as I am concerned, there is no overburdening of the ministry and I don’t see what powers they mean to reduce.

“I am standing by the duties which were assigned to him last May and this is what we were working with for the last 11 months and this is what was explained to the Cabinet retreat in January,” he added.

“I don’t know exactly what they mean by that. I have to listen to them tomorrow (yesterday) at Cabinet if it’s gonna be raised. We had a retreat earlier this year and we put out a very clear statement on the responsibilities of all 14 ministers and the Ministry of the Presidency. So there is a book, it’s stated, and nobody made any objection to the duties which were assigned to the Minister of State then and it would be surprising after two months that people feel that the duties have been, you know, misused or they need to be trimmed,” he said.

Analysts say that Granger and the government appear to be misreading the depth of the public disaffection at the conduct of Harmon and the fact that there are many unanswered questions particularly surrounding his recent trip to China. The concern about his conduct has seen a strong response from Transparency Institute Guyana Inc which has said that Harmon’s actions amount to corrupt behaviour and this extends to the government.

Analysts say that given their close relationship, how the Harmon matter is handled will be a stern test of Granger’s leadership and his presidency.