LEADER and Presidential Candidate of the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), Lenox Shuman, said his party has no intention of coalescing with any other political party ahead of the 2020 General and Regional Elections unless it is necessary as a matter of national importance.

“We are not going to coalesce with any political party going into this election unless the national security or the national interest of this country demands it,” Shuman said during a press conference at Duke Lodge on Thursday. He said LJP’s position is in keeping with a motion passed during the party’s first members’ conference held on Wednesday. He said the position is also aligned with Article 4.1 of the LJP’s Constitution.

“We are of the firm belief that the country is in need of balance. We recognise and respect that the APNU+AFC has a massive following, and we have to respect that they are going to look out for their people’s interest; and we also have to respect and recognise that the People’s Progressive Party also represents a very large mass and they have responsibility for their membership, and at this point the Liberty and Justice Party represents what we call a balance in this country. And along those lines we are going to be heading into the elections in 2020 as the Liberty and Justice Party,” Shuman stated.

Shuman said LJP is of the firm belief that no single party has all of the answers to the challenges facing Guyana, and as such, LJP is ready to make its mark.

He clarified that LJP’s meeting with the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) was not aimed at coalescing with the APNU. He explained that during the launch of LJP in January 2020, the party clearly stated that it was opened to communication with all political parties. Shuman said it was on that basis that the Executives of LJP have been meeting with the leaders of political parties in the country.

“We had sent out formal notification to all parties to engage in that dialogue because we believe that is the only way move Guyana forward. As such we have met with ANUG, we have met with FED-UP, TCI, we have met with APNU, and we have not met with the PPP,” Shuman explained.

The LJP Presidential Candidate said though an invitation was extended to the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), an official response has not been forthcoming. However, the PPP/C, he said, resorted to a “backdoor” mechanism for which LJP will not tolerate.
“The People’s Progressive Party through their agents has reached out to us but we are not opened to backdoor dialogues and backdoor deals. We are open to a very transparent and forward-looking process that engages everyone, and that engages public discourse,” Shuman said.

President David Granger recently had said that the APNU was in “preliminary exploratory” talks with LJP. He had said that the two sides were for areas of convergence. On Wednesday, when he was approached on the topic again, President Granger told reporters that talks had not moved forward but maintained that APNU is an inclusionary party, and as such is open to partnership.

“APNU is a party that is committed to the big benab and we prefer that all parties would come into the benab with their constituencies. We are not asking them to lose their identity or lose their constituency. So in principle, APNU has no objection to continuing talks with the Liberty and Justice Party but the talks have not moved forward,” President Granger explained.

He added, “We’re not in the business of sharing out goodies, we’re in the business of shared principles of working towards a common good and if any party is prepared to accept the overall objectives of the Partnership, they would be welcomed to come in but at this point in time, it’s not a question of running for elections, it’s question of developing Guyana and ensure the people of Guyana have the type of government which is inclusionary, which is inclusive and this is what we have achieved under the existing partnership.”