HEAD of the Presidential Secretariat and Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon, has expressed Cabinet’s concern over the continuing unilateral engagements between the two Parliamentary Opposition parties, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC). At his weekly  post-Cabinet  press briefing at the Office of the President yesterday, he  stressed the People’ Progressive  Party’s (PPP/C) position in honouring the commitment made in December 2011 to engage the parliamentary opposition parties on the way forward and to address issues raised at the  tripartite level.
He said, “Concerns about the delay in consummating this engagement were already raised with them and in the public; the reasons for those delays, as Cabinet previously mentioned, has become increasingly obvious, and to support its contention, Cabinet saw the two parliamentary opposition parties spending more time and significant efforts in their unilateral efforts to address those very concerns which were raised at the  tripartite level,  and unifying their positions on those matters.”
Evidence of this coalition, he said, was the fact that the AFC and the APNU still managed, in their cooperation and collaboration, “to pull off one of the major political heists in Guyana’s parliamentary history, that even the PNC Burnhamite dictatorship never stooped to”, which was to take the positions of both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly.
Despite this obvious “partnership” Dr. Luncheon maintained that the PPP/C, as the governing party with the majority of seats in Parliament, will continue along the path of advancing the developmental thrust for Guyana, as constructed by successive PPP/C Administrations, and he raised the question as to whether the parliamentary parties in the 10th Parliament will support the government in this thrust.
“The question that Cabinet addressed was what can Guyanese expect from this alliance; will the AFC collate further with the AFC and will the two of them act as a single majority party in parliament …as it stands now the PPP is still the majority with the most seats in Parliament,” he said.

Expectations for the 10th Parliament
Dr. Luncheon pointed out that, at this point, although there is no need for speculation, the government’s developmental thrust for Guyana is on the line, particularly because parliament has such an integral role to play in the implementation of this thrust.
He explained, “Over the last two terms, in the 8th and the 9th Parliament, we have essentially seen the design of that developmental thrust. We have seen it implemented, we now have a fairly decent picture of what it is for the 10th Parliament or even beyond… we have to wait and see, we do not know if we have in store for us more political heists like when they stole the speaker and deputy speaker appointments.”
Dr. Luncheon said that emphasis will continue to be placed on sound macroeconomic fundamentals, creation of growth centres to promote the development of the economy, along with the aggressive attention being paid to the equitable distribution of goods and services.
He emphasized that as the governing party, the PPP/C expects that their concerns will be properly addressed in the 10th Parliament.

Matter of Concern
Another matter of concern, the Cabinet Secretary noted, was the role of the elected Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman, who is committed to parliamentary impartiality, and who recently announced his intention to retain his appointment as the representative of the AFC list.
He called on the media to examine the powers and role that the representative of the list has, to understand the apprehension that has arisen in parliament, in the public domain and in the PPP.

State of Tripartite Discussions
Dr. Luncheon also said that efforts are currently underway to convene a meeting with representatives of the three parties to have the engagements made in December 2011, consummated, to contribute to a mutually satisfactory outcome by the 10th February, when Parliament will convene.
“We have the list of high representatives, and a list of matters proposed by all parties. All of the requirements to meet and to consult have been met. I believe that efforts should be congruous with our declaration in December, to handle the matter with mutual satisfaction and not with the aim of derailing the developmental thrust of Guyana as constructed by successive PPP/C administrations,” Dr. Luncheon stated.
Following the 2011 General and Regional Elections, the PPP/C obtained 32 seats in the National Assembly, APNU 26 and the AFC seven.
Shortly after the announcement of the election results, the leaders of the parties in Parliament, at the invitation of President Donald Ramotar, met at the Office of the President for discussions at a tripartite level.
Since the passage of laws usually requires a minimum of 51 percent of votes in the House, it means that the government (PPP/C) – since it needs to execute policy within the confines of the law, needs the opposition AFC and APNU to agree to its plans and legislate accordingly.
At his inauguration, President Donald Ramotar had said the new arrangement in Parliament would test the maturity of political leaders and will demand that the nation’s well-being not be sacrificed on the altar of pettiness.