President wary of actions by Charrandass Persaud
…to insist on thorough background checks of all coalition candidates

PRESIDENT David Granger has likened the ‘Coalition’ partner’s penchant of late for engaging in debates about ‘personalities’ before clearly establishing principles and policies, to putting the proverbial cart before the horse’.

On the local podcast, Inside Sources, aired on Sunday, President Granger told the interviewer, Gordon Moseley, that his interest in the ongoing discussions between the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) lies in following the Constitution and the negotiation process.

In August, the APNU and AFC initiated the process of revising the Cummingsburg Accord, the agreement which brought them together as a coalition on February 14, 2015.

Though they’ve agreed on the core principles ahead of the negotiation, last Thursday, the AFC contended that talks had broken down over the selection of a Prime Ministerial Candidate, whom it believes it has the right to select. Last June, the AFC, upon electing Khemraj Ramjattan as its Leader, nominated him for the position ahead of the 2020 General and Regional Elections.

AN EXAGGERATION
President Granger has since said that to describe the process as being “stalled” is to exaggerate the situation, as all of the parties within the coalition have agreed to a three-stage process of negotiation.

“The first stage is the discussion and agreement on core principles,” he said, “and we’ve passed that stage successfully; both the APNU and the AFC have agreed on core principles. The second stage is the revision of the Cummingsburg Accord, and I’ve stated repeatedly that this is not the time to speak about personalities; it’s the time to speak about principles and policies.”

During the third stage, President Granger said, the “Coalition” will establish its manifesto for the coming elections. Once these principles and policies are agreed upon, he said, the identification of personalities will fall into place.
He also noted that there have been no formal discussions on the matter of personalities, apart from the uncontested re-selection of himself as the Presidential Candidate for the 2020 elections.

“All other matters are still being discussed, and it would be premature to raise these issues at this stage,” he said.

“We have an agreement that should the teams hit a wall, the issues which caused any stalling would be referred to the respective party leaders; nothing has been referred to me indicating that there is a problem,” President Granger further stated.

‘SOME THINGS NON-NEGOTIABLE’
Meanwhile, at a recent press conference held by the AFC, its Executive Member, Dominic Gaskin said that while the party is committed to coalition politics, some things are “non-negotiable”; things such as the naming of the Prime Ministerial Candidate.

He opined that the naming of Ramjattan as the Prime Ministerial Candidate was in keeping with the Cummingsburg Accord, which is still in effect.

“We are not asking the Cummingsburg Accord to supersede the Constitution; we are saying that the AFC should name the Prime Ministerial Candidate, and the APNU should name the Presidential Candidate,” he said, adding: “After the elections, the President appoints the Prime Minister as per the Constitution. There is no clash or collision with the Constitution in the Cummingsburg Accord stipulating that the AFC will name the Prime Ministerial Candidate.”

Article 101 of the Constitution states: “The President shall appoint an elected member of the National Assembly to be Prime Minister of Guyana…”

Explaining his position on the issue, the Head of State said: “The President is the Chief Executive of the country. I am open to recommendations from all of my parties, and it is my duty to give the country the best team of ministers in order to accomplish the strategic objectives of the ‘Coalition’, and that is to give Guyanese people a better quality of life.

And that is what we’re doing. If we prejudice discussions by deciding beforehand who should be the minister – for example—of Public Health or the Minister of Communities, we’ll get bogged down in personalities. Let us decide what type of public health system we want; what type of public security we want; what type of Public Telecommunications, Public Infrastructure and let us see who I s the fittest person to fit those posts.”

The president underscored that Guyana must be represented by Ministers and public officials who are incorruptible, intelligent, loyal to the country, unbribable and able to take advice from experts and technically qualified persons.

GENDER EQUALITY, BALANCE
Factors he also wishes to take into consideration are the realisation of gender equality and balance amongst constituency representation in the National Assembly.

The President has plans to prepare a list of ministries along with their functions for the examination of the best possible candidates who have secured the support of their constituencies.

“I don’t want to have a Cabinet of technocrats who are strangers to the population,” he said. “People must trust their ministers; people must trust the people who represent them in the National Assembly. This is what gave us a big problem on December 21 last year; that it is possible if we do not confirm to that principle or comply with that principle that persons could possibly be nominated or may even be sent into the National Assembly who do not have the best interest of the country at heart.”

In December 2018, Charrandass Persaud, former AFC Member of Parliament (MP) voted in favour of an Opposition-sponsored motion in the National Assembly to bring down his Government.
President Granger said that he is open to sitting with AFC Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan to discuss the fitness and readiness of persons to serve in the capacities, but only after the necessary principles and policies are agreed upon as a clear guideline for selection.

While refraining from indicating his preference for Prime Ministerial candidate, the President did not deny that, over the years, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo handled the Government and Cabinet very well during his [the President’s] absence from the country.

“It is not for me to say at this point whether any other person will be nominated or whether other factors would have arisen,” he said, “but I am very satisfied with Mr. Nagamootoo’s performance over the last four years and four months, and I know that I am bound to listen to the other five members of the coalition. There are six of us in this room; not one, not two, six. And I have to listen to everybody. I have to ensure that, at the end of the day, the people of Guyana are happy with the type of government that has been selected and installed.”