The stability clause excuse

Dec 27, 2023 Editorial

Kaieteur News – Attorney General, Anil Nandlall once said that the PPP/C Government would love to bring about changes in the ExxonMobil contract, but it is handcuffed and severely limited from doing so.  The argument of the government is that the stability clause stands as an impassable barrier against any changes to the 2016 contract that causes economic loss in any form to the company.  Therefore, no matter how much the PPP/C Government is committed to doing better and getting more for Guyana, it just cannot, due to the presence of this ironclad stability clause in the contract.

This is breathtaking coming from a legal professional with the depth of the Attorney General, Mr. Nandlall.  It is astonishing that this defeatist and resigned position is taken by the PPP/C Government.  We assert so because, more than most, he should know that skilled legal practitioners are always searching and probing for ways to get around and overcome provisions that seem unchallengeable, and conditions that look like they are insurmountable.  What the learned Attorney General would want Guyanese to believe today is that when the PPP/C was in the opposition, the group, and its leaders (and lawyers) were all in the dark about this same stability clause.  This was while the top people in the PPP had promised to renegotiate the contract. If there are two things that separate resourceful and successful politicians and lawyers from the pack, it is that they figure out ways to conquer what stands in their way. And second, this is when the odds of doing so look most unlikely.

What has become clearer is that the PPP/C Government is now full of excuses, and there is always the readymade pariah in the APNU+AFC Coalition and the oil contract that was signed during its terms.  Indeed, that is so, and we at this publication have been neither hesitant nor sympathetic to the previous government for its complete loss of judgment, and terrible failure, with that repulsive contract.  The problem is that constantly looking back at how the then government sold out this country, and forever singing a ‘woe is Guyana’ tune does not do anything that either confronts the contract full-on or gives any indication of working around it in skilful ways to achieve better.  That is, introducing the kinds of approaches and practices that help ExxonMobil to see the light, and yield some ground.

When the PPP/C Government, using Attorney General Nandlall as its warhorse, continues with its full-throated attacks on the crippling handiwork of the APNU+AFC Coalition, there is no benefit for Guyana, other than the scoring of cheap political points.  The licking is deserving, but Guyanese remain trapped under the yoke of the 2016 contract.  None is served, nothing is gained.  Further, when Attorney General Nandlall speaks of “born again champions” for transparency and accountability, then it is obvious that his government is comfortable with the same secrecies that bedevilled the former government with the signing bonus and concealing of the contract.  By the erudite Attorney General’s reasoning, it would appear that APNU+AFC secrecies in the early stages of the contract’s existence, now justifies secrecies that proliferate under the PPP/C Government.

When the government and its leading spokespeople find it more advantageous to degrade Guyanese messengers pushing for better in an amended contract, then only ExxonMobil and its partners continue to benefit. One would think that the PPP/C Government would lead the way out of this longstanding crab barrel mentality of pulling down locals, while foreigners tear the flesh from their backs. The PPP/C as a political group, and as a government, has never been lacking in resilience and adaptability.  But here it is today pretending to be paralyzingly harnessed to the 2016 contract, thanks to the APNU+AFC.Attorney General, Anil Nandlall once said that the PPP/C Government would love to bring about changes in the ExxonMobil contract, but it is handcuffed and severely limited from doing so.  The argument of the government is that the stability clause stands as an impassable barrier against any changes to the 2016 contract that causes economic loss in any form to the company.  Therefore, no matter how much the PPP/C Government is committed to doing better and getting more for Guyana, it just cannot, due to the presence of this ironclad stability clause in the contract.

When the PPP/C Government has had opportunities to proceed with ‘all deliberate speed’ with its approval of new projects, it has raced forward like a reckless, drugged-up teenager by doing the opposite.  When government had openings to use the bureaucracy and manifest savvy leadership as its powerful trump cards, it folded its hand, and curses the Coalition. When the PPP/C Government engages in these pantomimes, Guyanese go on losing, while ExxonMobil triumphs and applauds its local heroes, like Mr. Nandlall.

• Anil Nandlall, Attorney General, Editorial, PPP/C, PPP/C Government