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FM
Former Member

WPA members mull for breakaway from coalition Govt

…cite disrespect, sidelining

The executives of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) may have found themselves proverbially between a rock and a hard place, as they have been receiving heavy pressure from members and supporters here and abroad to cut ties with the APNU (A Partnership for National Unity).

Executive members of the WPA at the party’s press conference on Monday

However, the party which claims to be the premiere unit that has been pushing for a government of national unity has said it is not even considering that suggestion at this time, although it feels highly sidelined by the People’s National Congress-led APNU. The PNC is a major stakeholder in the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) Government.

The Working People’s Alliance had, in 2011, joined forces with the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), the Guyana Action Party (GAP) and the Justice for All Party (JFAP), among others, to form the A Partnership for National Unity coalition that contested the General and Regional elections of that year.
Six years down the line, after being successful at another shot at the elections, the WPA has said it feels shafted by the coalition Government.

WPA executive member Tacuma Ogunseye on Monday said there is no doubt the party and fellow members have been given second-class treatment by the major partner in the APNU coalition.

“We in the WPA believe that when you look at the way in which the relationship unfolded in the APNU, the WPA was effectively side-lined; there is no question about that. You may argue about why and so on, but we feel that any objective examination will be forced to come to that conclusion.”

The party’s top brass is scheduled to meet with other members of the APNU in July, and Ogunseye has said that meeting would provide WPA executives with answers to give their members on the way forward for the party. “There we will have a frank discussion with our partners, and use the opportunity to assess the way in which they respond to our concerns. And after that exercise, we will come back and decide on a line of action. But the approach of that meeting is to try to be (as) objective as possible, and try to enter the discourse with 100 per cent goodwill,” Ogunseye explained.

He said the meeting could have a very serious impact on the future of relations between the WPA and its partners.
And executive member Dr David Hinds has said there are a range of opinions in the WPA in regard to how the party should treat Government.

“It ranges from those who feel that we should disengage with Government immediately… We are confident that if we should hold a members’ meeting, there would be a strong opinion among our members for us to disengage from the Government,” he revealed.

He said the meeting with Government would inform the WPA executive what to tell the membership. He explained that the party has to manage all of the views within the party, especially since the WPA has come out of a different tradition from its partners.

According to him, the party has emerged from the radical traditions of the 1970s, when it always felt the need for a critical voice against government and authority.

“And so, therefore, the fact that we are part of Government in a sense creates a kind of contradiction that we have got to work through. We have got to balance support for the Government, but of course (retain) support for our tradition; which is one that questions power. He said the partners in the APNU coalition did not come from such a tradition, but have, in fact, been holders of power for the most part.

“So here we are, part of power, but also with the responsibility of questioning power; and so we have to balance that,” Hinds told reporters.

He said it has not been an easy task, especially since the party has always been championing the cause of coalition Government.

“So therefore, we have been the party of coalition, and so we do not want to be the party that kills a coalition,” he said as he noted that the party is trying to do the best that it can, but should not be disrespected or taken for granted.

Hinds make it clear that although the WPA might not have garnered many votes within the coalition, it had, over the years, been a critical player in shaping public opinion and ideas in Guyana.

http://guyanatimesgy.com/wpa-m...from-coalition-govt/

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The Working People’s Alliance (WPA) is quite dissatisfied with the reality that Constitutional Reform is yet to be realized.
At a press conference, yesterday, at its Queenstown Headquarters, WPA Executive Member, Dr. David Hinds, expressed the party’s view that a great disservice is being done to the nation with the absence of Constitutional Reform.

He pointed to Constitutional Reform as a manifesto commitment that is still to be realized.
Dr. Hinds said that in every manifesto it ever prepared, from way back in 1985, the WPA has sustained a commitment to Constitutional Reform.
He said, “We fought for the inclusion of Constitutional Reform as a very important and central plank of this (the APNU+AFC) manifesto. We are not satisfied that the government has not moved purposefully in terms of dealing with Constitutional Reform.”

Dr. Hinds acknowledged the work of the Constitutional Reform Committee chaired by Attorney at Law, Nigel Hughes, and noted that the committee submitted its report to Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo since last year. “But, every time the Prime Minister speaks he says, ‘Well you know we are going to bring things on stream.’”

Dr. Hinds said that the WPA is ready to see real action as the party is tired of Nagamootoo’s continued promise to get things on stream.”
The WPA executive member said, “We are dissatisfied with (the delay). We feel that Constitutional Reform is critical to everything that we are doing because it has to do with the way the State is reconstructed, the allocation of power, the whole question of ethnicity and the sharing of power in this country.”

Dr. Hinds continued, “We are very strong in the reduction of the powers of the President. We feel that despite some modification, the last time around in 1999/2000, the presidential powers are still too much and we will like to see a modification of those powers.

There are things that we feel need to be done immediately and that constitutional reform should be put on the table as a central plank.”
Dr. Hinds, who is a political scientist, said that ultimately Governments come, and Governments go, “but it is important that we have rules of engagement. These are what make up a constitution; a Constitution is rules of engagement that assure the population of a country that their security is guaranteed.

Dr. Hinds said that the WPA will argue within the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) for a kick start of the constitutional reform process “for us to make good on our promise in the manifesto.” (Abena Rockcliffe-Campbell)

http://www.kaieteurnewsonline....nstitutional-reform/

FM
Last edited by Former Member

A Nimakaram Crabdaag will always be ***** footing. Dat shameless Daag is one of a kind on this Planet. I challenge anyone to find a a more SHAMELESS Namakaram Crabdaag!!!!!

Nehru
Last edited by Nehru

WPA or any party in the APNU group can always leave the coalition.

Should any do so ..

1. It/they cannot take seat(s) and sit as independent(s).

2. APNU would fill the vacancies with members of the PNC.

Of note, the party wins the seats and each leader then appoints members.

FM

The PNC is consolidating power by removing people from certain key positions and replacing them with party loyalists.  You can expect the momentum to increase. The WPA was a thorn in the side of the PNC. They have not forgotten that.  The PNC is working assiduously to make sure that the party re-establishes firm control of the state apparatus as it was during the reign of their highly regarded leader, Forbes Burnham. To govern un-democratically requires the support of people occupying important positions in the government.  Roopnarine, once a victim of PNC's rule is not trusted by the PNC> 

Billy Ram Balgobin
Last edited by Billy Ram Balgobin

All parties in the APNU should show they will not support the coalition when the time comes if their concerns are not being met.

Perhaps they should all step away from the PNC and go to election under one umbrella.

cain
Billy Ram Balgobin posted:

The PNC is consolidating power by removing people from certain key positions and replacing them with party loyalists.  You can expect the momentum to increase. The WPA was a thorn in the side of the PNC. They have not forgotten that.  The PNC is working assiduously to make sure that the party re-establishes firm control of the state apparatus as it was during the reign of their highly regarded leader, Forbes Burnham. To govern un-democratically requires the support of people occupying important positions in the government.  Roopnarine, once a victim of PNC's rule is not trusted by the PNC> 

This is a fraction of the rigging machinery , putting their people/ loyalist in right places so to secure a win at the next election. The pot of gold is at the end, OIL Money, how coincidental , election 2020, oil 2020. The government is slowly becoming a party of ALL BLACKS, remember Moses said he in not, Indian.

K
cain posted:

All parties in the APNU should show they will not support the coalition when the time comes if their concerns are not being met.

Perhaps they should all step away from the PNC and go to election under one umbrella.

Trade Winds will be at Twilight Restaurant this Friday .

K

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