Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday took a swipe at the protracted negotiations between the governing coalition partners, saying that as negotiations drag on the Alliance for Change (AFC) is “imploding form within” while A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) is taking its junior partner “for a ride.”
Jagdeo mocked as bizarre the fact that the AFC named November 18th as the deadline for negotiations and then went “into hiding” after the deadline passed without a signed accord.
“They are getting shafted but they have put their tails between their legs and gone quiet,” an amused Jagdeo told a press conference, before adding that the AFC is a party of “no principle or integrity. A bunch of hustlers huddled together to preserve perks.”
According to the opposition leader, the sticking point of negotiations appear to be the AFC’s desire to hold the “oil ministry” as well as the Ministry of Public Infrastructure.
He went on to claim that recent declaration by Minister Raphael Trotman and Director of Public Information Imran Khan that they will remain with the coalition undermined the AFC’s negotiating position.
“It’s a funny thing to say…there must be some coordinated move within the AFC to get rid of Ramjattan and others,” he said, before claiming that Trotman and Khan were “going home to the PNC.”
Hours after Jagdeo made these claims, the coalition partners announced that they had had an “excellent” meeting. Sources have since confirmed that the terms of a new accord were agreed at that meeting.
Last Friday the AFC declared that it would be contesting the March 2020 alone if the terms of a revised Cummingsburg Accord were not concluded by yesterday. The party has since said it will address the matter at the end of the week.
On Tuesday, General Secretary David Patterson declined to answer any questions put to him on the negotiations which had not concluded.
That same day the Executive Committee of APNU issued a statement in which it explained that a meeting of all the parties that make up the Partnership was held. At the meeting, representatives of the Guyana Action Party (GAP), the Justice For All Party (JFAP), the National Front Alliance (NFA), the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), with President David Granger sitting as chair, were briefed by APNU’s negotiating team.
According to the statement, the partners examined several proposals and agreed on a post-election formula for the allocation of seats. They also recommended an approach for the continuation of negotiations with the AFC in accordance with the core principles already agreed.
“The Partners further agreed and recommended that the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana will guide all future discussions,” the statement added before concluding that APNU remains committed to ending “winner-take-all” politics in Guyana and to contesting the 2020 elections as a coalition.
