APNU, AFC resolve differences; Nagamootoo heads national govt negotiating team
- Saturday, 05 September 2015 22:37
- Written by Denis Scott Chabrol
- 0 Comments
Attendees at the Prime Ministerial outreach
at the Whim Cricket Ground.
Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo on Saturday
announced that his Alliance For Change (AFC)
and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)
resolved a number of differences,
and that he would be heading a team
to meet with the opposition People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC)
on forming a government of national unity.
“We are a serious government and we work in consultation.
Even when we have problems among ourselves-
last Saturday we had a meeting
between the APNU and the AFC
to thrash out whatever differences
we may have in our relationship
and we are able to do the same
to sit with the PPP and thrash out differences,”
he told the inaugural Prime Ministerial outreach
at the Whim Cricket Ground, Corentyne.
However, he did not elaborate on those differences
between the two political organisations
that signed a Valentine’s Day 2015 pact
called the Cummingsburg Accord that outlines
the distribution of power and responsibilities.
Following Saturday’s meeting,
however, Nagamootoo earlier this week announced
that the Prime Minister’s office would be decentralized
to several regions to allow him and his representatives
to meet with persons and have their concerns addressed.
Describing the PPPC as a “credible opposition,”
that received a “fair chunk” of votes
at the May 11, 2015 general and regional elections,
he said
he is heading a committee
to hold discussions with the opposition
on political cooperation.
“We are prepared to open the doors to the PPP
to if they want to enter this government
because we want to have an inclusive government,
we want to have a government of National Unity
as broadly as possible,”
said Nagamootoo,
a former long-serving senior PPP member.
The Prime Minister said the PPP
could not be avoided because that party controls
seven of Guyana’s 10 administrative regions.
“We want to enter into
a fruitful relationship with the PPP ,
not a picketing party
but a party that comes to the table to talk
because we are serious
about the issues facing Guyana,”
in apparent passing reference
to a picketing demonstration
outside the Whim Cricket ground
by anti-government protesters.
At the same time,
he ruled out the David Granger-led administration
striking a deal for the quashing of series of forensic audits
at a number of State-owned entities
in exchage for political cooperation.
The Prime Minister
told the estimated 500 attendees that
"I am heading a committee that would engage
the leadership of the PPP
in talks where we can cooperate
on many of the things we have to do for Guyana."
Some analysts and the PPPC have charged
that APNU has shafted the AFC
by denuding the agreed responsibilities of the Prime Minister
in violation of the pre-election Cummingsburg Accord.
They include making the prime minister
responsible for domestic security,
chairing the cabinet,
and appointing non-constitutional commissions.
The Prime Minister
has instead been given responsibilities
for Leader of Government business in the House,
the State Media and
the non-gazetted responsibility of constitutional reform.
Nagamootoo has sought
to downplay the breach of the agreement
and has instead embarked on a crusade
about his appointment as Prime Minister.
The national security portfolio
has been split up with Citizenship and Immigration
going to a junior minister in the Ministry of the Presidency
and AFC Leader being handed
the responsibilities of police, prisons and fire services.
The Cummingsburg Accord
did not provide for the appointment of the several junior ministers
in the Ministry of the Presidency and several other ministries.
Minister of State in the Office of the President,
Joseph Harmon
has the largest number of key ministerial responsibilities.