Granger defies WPA

…on calls for “aggressive” protest
Retired Army General and now Leader of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), David Granger continues to defy his main coalition partner’s call for more

APNU Leader David Granger

aggressive protests against the Government over the prorogation of Parliament.
Granger’s stance has virtually confirmed what several analysts have said: extreme divisions continue to eat away at the coalition. It is this scenario that presents the electorate with a skewed view as to the real motives of the two larger groups – APNU and the Alliance For Change (AFC).

Since the Parliament was prorogued on November 10, APNU has staged several protests in front of the Office of the President on Vlissengen Road calling for the President to rescind the prorogation proclamation and “restore democracy”.

Granger, in response to questions by reporters on Friday at an APNU Press conference, said that while the Partnership believes in the people’s right to protest, it should not be done in a violent manner or in any way that breaches the peace. According to the Opposition Leader, the protest action taken by the Partnership over the past weeks has been enough and has resulted in the Government returning to the electorate for a new mandate. “We have been very aggressive, we have been on the streets for eight weeks….if you want disorder, then we are not in the line of creating disorder,” the APNU Leader said.

The former Brigadier contended that his supporters are satisfied by the mild protest actions that have been undertaken by the Partnership over the last weeks. He said “I am in contact with the majority of our supporters; I visit villages every week… I am obedient to the institutions of the party and the Partnership and my supporters are quite satisfied with the line that we have taken.”

Granger maintained that the actions taken have been results-oriented, contending that “if people want disorder, they wouldn’t get it from us”. He was adamant that APNU will continue down its current path of resistance against President Donald Ramotar’s prorogation of the National Assembly, with hopes of bringing more pressure to bear on the Administration. “They will get pressure; they will get aggressive behaviour; they will get decisive action, and we feel that the action that we have taken has been successful,” remarked the APNU Leader.

WPA co-leader, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine

Momentum lost
However, Granger’s main coalition partner, Working People’s Alliance (WPA) does not believe that the protests have been yielding any results. In fact, the party’s co-leader, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, who is Granger’s deputy, said: “Momentum is being lost and reaction to the Government’s derailing of the No-Confidence Motion appears to be protest in slow motion.”

According to the WPA, when it comes to the protests against the prorogation of Parliament, there is need for a game plan to effectively tackle the issue. “What is not emerging is a definitive game plan, a meaningful action plan for implementing decisions relating thereto, and a clear conceptualisation of the end game that signals victory for the people and defeat for the usurpers of power.

“There is urgent need for the Opposition to communicate to the Guyanese public, an action plan or road map for making the Government so uncomfortable that it would be forced to relent and reconvene Parliament any time soon,” the WPA said.

The statement added that there had been talk of taking the struggle to every city, town and village, but so far agitation has been confined to inner Georgetown. However, APNU General Secretary Joseph Harmon had said that the small crowds at the anti-prorogation protests were deliberate. He said that “from time to time…the attendance goes up or go down”, but insisted this was based on the message that was being sent to the President on the particular occasions.