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Dec 09, 2014 Letters
DEAR EDITOR,
This is in response to your news reports (KN Dec 6, 7) on the proposal from the Private Sector Commission on resolving the parliamentary prorogation, the statement from the President on dissolving the assembly, and APNU’s response to President Ramotar’s address.
Based on conversations I had with people within Guyana, including critics of the government, people are disappointed as well as pleased with President Ramotar’s announcement that he would dissolve the assembly in the new year. They are disappointed with the failure of the parties to resolve their differences and return to parliament to continue their work for which they were hired (elected). But since the parties cannot compromise on a way forward, the people are pleased that the President has decided to act on the demands of the opposition to dissolve the parliament and face the electorate.
The church, business community, and the population must be applauded for putting pressure on the political parties to meet and work out their differences. But these noble efforts have all failed to get the politicians to listen to rational views on the political state of affairs. The parties display stubbornness, with each wanting its own way or the highway. Each of the parties is pulling in its own direction looking out for its own interest rather than for the interest of the nation, leading to contradictory positions.
For example, APNU said it wanted local government elections. President Ramotar said he was looking at a date for the second quarter of next year. This was followed by a contradiction when APNU said it would also support the no confidence motion to end the life of parliament, thereby annulling any date for local elections. This was followed by a prorogation. Virtually every democratic nation allows for a prorogation of its legislature. So it is not an illegal or dictatorial act, and it would have been foolhardy of him not to take evasive action to protect his government.
The political parties (the two opposition parties, in particular, as noted by the business community) have rejected calls for compromise and mediation to come together in the interest of the nation. The President tried to nudge the opposition to join him for talks to end the prorogation. His letter of invitation was turned down.
The opposition was adamant in its position it would not talk with Ramotar unless he reconvenes parliament and face the no confidence motion – I have never heard of such a position before in any part of the globe.
In Grenada, for example, parliament was prorogued in 2012. After the six-month period, the PM recalled parliament and immediately dissolved it and held elections. In other countries where prorogation was invoked – in Canada, for example – parliament was reconvened and the government did not face a no confidence motion. What is the point of reconvening parliament if the assembly is going to be dissolved via a no confidence motion? That is idiotic. Which leader would allow him/herself to go to the slaughter house if the constitution allows a different path that permits temporary survival?
Ramotar said he invoked the prorogation as a last resort to save the life of the parliament that had not even completed three years of a five-year term. He said he wanted a cooling-off period, hoping the opposition would reconsider its action to end the life of the parliament. The opposition said they don’t want to talk. The business community (through the PSC) intervened and tried to meet the goals of all three parties by forcing them to come to the table.
APNU wants local elections, and it was in the PSC proposal to be held in 2015. PPP did not want to dissolve the assembly and the PSC offered it breathing space for some time before a no confidence motion would even be considered. AFC wants general elections and PSC said it can always reintroduce its no confidence motion, in partnership with APNU, after some time, that would lead to elections. But the two opposition parties insisted the parliament meet and the President debate the no confidence motion. Clearly, no one wanted to budge, and so the only way out of resolving the impasse is general elections. After less than a month of reasoning with the opposition and failing to come to a resolution, the President wisely announced the parliament would be dissolved.
Conversations with colleagues in the US and Canada suggest the President should have dissolved the assembly from the inception instead of proroguing. It was felt that at the end of the day, the assembly would still have had to be dissolved, because the opposition wanted to end its life and there was nothing Ramotar could do to save it except through prorogation. Clearly, Ramotar was not comfortable with the prorogation. (He could have waited for another five months before announcing a dissolution of parliament).
Ramotar did right in announcing he would end it. People applauded the President for at least trying to get the opposition to hold their hand and to rethink their position to end the life of the assembly. People I conversed with in North America, Trinidad and Guyana support the President’s announcement to dissolve the assembly and go to the polls. They also feel the President did right not to announce a date for the election now because it would cast a gloom over the end-of-year holidays.
The opposition’s insistence that the President announce a date now would disrupt the Christmas spirit. I would prefer elections at the earliest perhaps ending of March (but Gecom may not be ready). Many people (from the business community) I spoke with in Guyana say it would be better if the date is announced after Mashramani so as not to disrupt celebrations that buoy the economy. Had the President decided to enforce the prorogation through May as allowed by the Burnham constitution, elections would be held much later in the year.
Vishnu Bisram
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