Pandemonium in Opposition ranks

Opposition Leader David Granger

…over prorogation response

Several analysts say Guyana is perhaps the only country in the Caribbean where there are so many Opposition parties. Even though of recent there have been efforts to form broad coalitions, their problem is the same: extreme divisions.

More than a month since President Donald Ramotar prorogued Parliament after being threatened with a No-Confidence Motion against his Government; there are still major divisions among Opposition groups that impede their own efforts aimed at achieving a political solution.

It is this scenario that presents the electorate with a skewed view as to the real motives of the two larger groups: A Partnership For National Unity (APNU) and Alliance For Change (AFC).

From the onset, the deep division was evident. Once the AFC-sponsored No-Confidence Motion was tabled, APNU listed as priority Local Government Elections, while the AFC was hell bent on ramming through its motion against the Government.

“What we are seeing here is APNU having a separate strategy, one that is distinct and apart from that of the AFC,” AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan said back in September. He added that the No-Confidence Motion was the party’s priority, insisting that “the violations of the Government no longer should be allowed. We indicated our intentions to APNU and we were given full support… we never got a sense that the priority of APNU was to see Local Government Elections at this time,” Ramjattan had said.

APNU General Secretary Joseph Harmon

Around this time, there was widespread support for the holding of Local Government Elections with several organisations and even the international community pressing the Government to hold the poll.

“I believe at that time there was indeed support for Local Government Elections, but somehow APNU allowed itself to get sidetracked from the real issue and AFC entered with its No- Confidence Motion… this threw everything aside,” a former Member of Parliament told Guyana Times on Thursday.

Even President Ramotar had alluded to the division, stating one time that APNU had to make up its mind whether it wanted Local Government Elections or General Elections, given its support for the No- Confidence Motion.

Political analysts had posited that the APNU, being the major political player in the one-seat majority in the House, should have been the one to first put forward a proposal such as the No-Confidence Motion, against the Donald Ramotar Administration. They claim too that the coalition, because of its weakened state, might be trailing its junior partner in this regard.

But Granger had explained to this newspaper that his party is not following the AFC. “We are not following the AFC; we have taken a line to support the No-confidence Motion. There were four courses of action and the No-Confidence Motion was only one.”

Faced with the situation, of his party being the first to fall on an Opposition No-Confidence Motion, President Ramotar on November 10 prorogued Parliament and invited the Opposition for talks aimed at thrashing out their differences. But this instead, set off major confusion within the Opposition’s camp.

AFC Leader
Khemraj Ramjattan

Amid a flurry of meetings and statements, APNU arranged a rally a few days later at the Square of the Revolution billed as a forum where the Opposition would articulate their strategy to supporters and also explain the implications of the prorogation. At this rally, there were further divisions. The AFC decided to send two of its black leaders to the rally largely attended by Afro-Guyanese, while its two top Indo leaders: Ramjattan and Nagamootoo stayed away.

“At this stage, no; we are not going out there with APNU,” Ramjattan said.

Besides, the party has shunned APNU’s daily protests outside the Office of the President, instead taking its demonstration in front of the Regional Administrative Complex at Fort Wellington, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice).

“We don’t want to go there. We will continue to protest using other methods that do not require them to be on the streets rallying alongside fellow Opposition party – APNU. We have indicated that we will maintain our hard-hitting press releases and comments in the press,” he said.

And if these “double standard positions” by the AFC are not enough, APNU continues to face Opposition within its own ranks, which most people figure simply provides a fig leaf for the PNC.

Its main ally in the six-party coalition, the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) has been very critical of its daily protests, calling them “weak” and urging the coalition to be more aggressive. In a strongly worded statement last Saturday, the WPA also expressed concern over the AFC’s “conspicuous” absence from the protests.

“The AFC, the Opposition’s junior partner that initiated the No-Confidence Motion which precipitated the prorogation move by the Government to thwart the vote for early elections, has been so far conspicuously absent from the firing line, except for a guest appearance at the APNU rally of November 14. Momentum is being lost and reaction to the Government’s derailing of the No-Confidence Motion appears to be protest in slow motion,” the WPA statement said.

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, when contacted on Saturday, APNU General Secretary Joseph Harmon 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 occasion.

Referring to the recent APNU rally at the Square of the Revolution which saw close to a thousand persons gathered, Harmon contended that if the APNU sees it fit, the party can activate more supporters to rally behind them. “If we want a large turnout, we can activate more of our members… this is a part of our strategy.”