Political pundits say… Granger misses golden opportunity to earn electorate’s respect –by saving taxpayers the $1.6B price-tag for going to the polls

NOW that A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) General Secretary, Joseph Harmon has conceded that the Party is cash-strapped, political pundits are wondering at the wisdom of their insistence on going to the polls rather than talk.For starters, they say, going to elections will cost the Government a pretty penny; as much as $1.6B by their calculation, which is an expense it is not willing to pass onto the hardworking taxpayers at this point in time.

The sum at reference is part of a $3.3B allocated to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) in this year’s Budget in the event that it has to prepare for the holding of either general or regional elections.
The $1.6B is intended to allow GECOM to exercise general direction and supervision over the registration of electors, and the administrative conduct of all elections of members of the National Assembly, the Regional Democratic Councils (RDCs) and local authorities in Guyana.

As one source, who asked to remain anonymous, contends, if going to elections is going to be so costly, why does APNU not swallow its pride, if indeed it cares about the welfare of the populace, and accept President Donald Ramotar’s invitation to talk things over?
President Donald Ramotar, on November 18, by way of a letter, invited APNU’s leader, Brigadier (rtd) David Granger, as Leader of the Main Opposition, for talks.

After thumbing his nose on the President for almost three weeks, he on Tuesday acknowledged, in writing, receipt of the President’s invitation, but respectfully declined saying that “APNU would be unprepared to participate in such a proposed dialogue for as long as the Parliament of Guyana remained prorogued.”

Fearing that the President now has no other alternative but to call elections, as he’s time and again said he would do if all else fails, the Guyana Chronicle over the weekend put the question to Harmon; and his reply was that he will not “second-guess” the President.
“We will have to take him on his word and prepare accordingly,” he said, indicating that the Party will be moving ahead with its election campaign preparations.

And this is in spite of his admitting that the Party is financially constrained. As he told the Chronicle: “We have limited resources; we do not have the largesse as a Government has. We rely on the contributions of hardworking supporters, in addition to the funds we raise through fundraisers.”

He also acknowledged that the Party’s ability to advance an election campaign, if and when one is called, will be affected by this.
“There are things we want to do we cannot do at the pace because of limited resources; we understand that our supporters want more political action, and there is a cost attached to this. So the extent to which we proceed we have to consider the costs,” he said.

RATIONALE FOR PROROGATION
Both APNU and the Alliance For Change (AFC) at the time of the prorogation, made it clear that they will not engage the President in talks unless the prorogation is lifted and parliamentary work resumes.
Since the President’s move to prorogue Parliament, there have been varying sentiments from different sections of society, many being in support of the prorogation, which would facilitate dialogue in face of the current political impasse.

The President has always maintained that the need for dialogue was uppermost in his mind when he made his decision. Paving the way for greater dialogue among political parties, he contends, would have kept the 10th Parliament alive to address critically important issues currently before the National Assembly.

Some of these matters include: The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) (Amendment) Bill, which is currently with the Parliamentary Special Select Committee; and the second reading of the Education Bill 2014, the Land Surveyors Bill 2014, and the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill 2014.

Also among the Bills scheduled for a first reading are the Food Safety Bill 2014, and the Motor Vehicles Insurance (Third Party Risks) (Amendment) Bill 2014. Other important matters before the National Assembly include the appointment of Members to the Rights of the Child Commission (ROC) and the Women and Gender Equality Commission.
The move to prorogation was in face of an AFC-sponsored no-confidence motion against the Government.

The effect of ending the first session of the 10th Parliament via prorogation is the termination of the business of the National Assembly. As a result, the AFC’s motion was not considered. Also APNU had, prior to November 10, signalled its intent to support the push through of the motion. Had it not been for the proclamation to prorogue Parliament, if the no-confidence motion was passed, Guyana would have been headed to early general elections within three months.

If there is a move to general elections, given the recent pronouncements by APNU and AFC, it would come more than a year early. The last general and regional elections were held in November 2011.