When Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton yesterday met with United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, he presented a “dossier” setting out what the opposition believes is the marginalisation of people here, along with issues that in his opinion, need to be urgently addressed before the 2025 general elections.
At the meeting held at the US Embassy in Georgetown, Norton said he gave a general indication of the political and economic situation in the country and highlighted several issues that were affecting the people.
The meeting between the Opposition Leader and Blinken was unannounced and came as a surprise to the government, Stabroek News understands. The engagement occurred immediately after a meeting with President Irfaan Ali and members of his Cabinet at State House.
Blinken, after his departure from State House, was scheduled to participate in a meet-and-greet with US Embassy staff and their families. Norton was the only opposition member who met with Blinken following an invitation from the US Embassy.
Norton told Stabroek News in a telephone interview that the dossier presented to Blinken gave details on the issues he raised.
According to Norton, he informed the Secretary of State of his party’s call for a clean voters list and the use of biometrics in the upcoming 2025 elections. He also shared the view that the guardrails of democracy were slowly eroding and the country is stepping into a “one party state era.” The idea of inclusivity and direct discussion was floated to address this.
Asked if Blinken gave any indication on how he plans to address these concerns, Norton said the Secretary of State responded by saying that the wish of the United States is to see this country operating in a stable manner. Blinken said that he was aware of the instability in the last general and regional elections and does not wish for the situation to repeat itself in 2025.
“And I said [to Blinken] a stable country is possible after elections once we can get a clean voters list and biometrics among other things”, the Opposition Leader told Stabroek News.
Norton went on to state that he also said that government contracts are being allocated in a discriminatory manner and the need for it to be addressed. He also raised what he said was the politicisation of the Guyana Police Force.
The Opposition Leader also stressed in the discussion what he believes to be the government’s push for infrastructure at the expense of human development. It was highlighted that the government has been prioritising large-scale infrastructure rather than addressing the high cost of living, growing poverty, and economic discrimination, as the revenues from oil are not being transferred to the development of livelihoods.
“I pointed out that there is an over-focus on capital expenditure for infrastructure and no real focus on human development, and of course I bemoaned the fact that we are an oil nation and we are living in poverty and the resources are not trickling down. We informed him of the consequences of this type of economic starvation of the African Guyanese community,” Norton said as he highlighted the issues discussed during his meeting with Blinken.
When asked if he received any concrete commitment from Blinken to address these issues raised, Norton said that he will not comment on that.
However, he stated while he endorses Blinken’s statement to the Western Hemisphere on a free, secure, open and prosperous world, that can only be achieved through inclusiveness.
“I underscored the fact that he himself said in his talk with the Western Hemispheric group that they are looking towards a free, secure, open and prosperous world, and I said to him that we endorse those sentiments but we also believe that in the Guyana context, there is need for inclusiveness and once that can emerge, then we will find ourselves in a better position,” Norton explained.
