The Caricom Heads of Government and opposition leaders’ forum launched in July 2005 no longer exists and therefore could not be used as a forum for Guyana’s joint parliamentary opposition to present the country’s problems, Opposition Leader Robert Corbin said.
The PNCR leader had been asked at the launching of a petition by the parliamentary opposition at City Hall last week whether the problems highlighted in the petition could not be dealt with in the joint forum for Caricom Heads of Government and parliamentary leaders of the opposition. Corbin, who was flanked by AFC Leader Raphael Trotman and GAP Leader Paul Hardy, said the forum was “non-existent and it was just another scheme to deal with short-term objectives rather than with the long-term”.
Four Caribbean parliamentary opposition leaders had been selected to represent the other regional opposition leaders. They were then Jamaica’s parliamentary opposition leader Bruce Golding (now Jamaica’s Prime Minister); Edison James of Dominica; Derek Taylor of the parliamentary opposition of the Turks and Caicos Islands and Corbin. They met the Caricom Heads of Government selected to represent the other heads for the first time in July 2005 prior to the 26th regular meeting of the heads in St Lucia. The heads at the time were then St Lucia’s Prime Minister Dr Kenny Anthony, who is now the Leader of the Opposition; then Prime Minister of Barbados, Owen Arthur whose party is now in opposition; and President Bharrat Jagdeo.
The heads and the opposition leaders met for the second time in February 2006 at the launching of the Caricom Single Market (CSM) in Jamaica and they have not met since.
According to Corbin, when they met he raised some of the very concerns that the joint opposition petition would be highlighting. He said he had expressed the hope that the forum was not just a facilitating mechanism for the short-term and there should be a continuing arrangement to allow for changes of political parties in the government. “There is no mechanism in place for continuity,” he said.
He said that since the last meeting, three Heads of Government have been voted out of office, and one of the opposition leaders in the forum was now a head of government.
Corbin said some of the issues raised then were still unresolved and were being raised once again in the petition. He said he would like to know “what is the thinking now” of those who failed to act when they were in government.
The petition calls for the removal of the suspension of the licence of CNS TV Channel 6, the withdrawal of sedition charges against former army officer Oliver Hinckson and his immediate release from custody, the urgent enactment of broadcast legislation and the licensing of private radio stations, among other issues.
Stabroek News recalled that at the February 2006 meeting, the heads and the opposition leaders exchanged views on issues related to the CSM and the plans for the establishment of the Single Economy by this year (2008), governance issues in the region; and the strengthening of the Assembly of Caribbean Community Parliamentarians (ACCP).
They emphasised the vital need for meaningful consultations between governments and the parliamentary opposition in Caricom as they move to the CSME era and agreed that the political architecture needed to evolve to take into account the structural changes taking place in Caricom.
In this regard, they reiterated that governance throughout Caricom must be inspired and underpinned by the norms outlined in the Charter of Civil Society which was endorsed by Caricom heads in 1997.
Several recommendations were made to sustain the dialogue between the heads and the opposition leaders, such as charging the Caricom Secretariat with preparing draft terms of reference for the continuation of the forum with a focus on the institutional arrangements and the definition of the content of the dialogue. (Miranda La Rose)
