FINALLY, the tripartite consultative process, as advocated by Government, following last November elections, got underway on Friday at the Office of the President. By tomorrow, there should be an official statement on the outcome of the meeting, chaired by President Donald Ramotar and involving high-level representatives of the three parliamentary parties – PPP/C, APNU, and AFC.
One-upmanship politics and irresponsible utterances geared to capture media headlines cannot be substituted for constructive dialogues held in a peaceful atmosphere and imbued by goodwill on the part of all involved in the tripartite process.
It is GUYANA’s future that’s at stake and requires resistance to narrow, partisan political agendas or pandering to the egos of any leader or party. Respect for democratic governance and the rule of law must always be paramount in the consultative process which, by its very nature, would require a spirit of compromise to resolve sensitive national issues.
Seeking to usurp the powers of a democratically elected government will hardly be a sensible approach in the pursuit of national objectives via the tripartite process that has resulted from the independent initiative of President Ramotar.
For instance, the government’s firm commitment to maintaining established norms in industrial relations practices should not be overlooked by either of the two parliamentary opposition parties, lest unnecessary tension develops between labour unions and employers organizations.
In this context, it is relevant to note that the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) has already thought it necessary to publicly caution the AFC in seeking to become involved in demanding salary increases for public sector workers without even attempting to first engage in consultations with the relevant unions.
Without questioning the sincerity of any of the parliamentary parties in interest being shown for improved income and working conditions for public sector workers, the government’s own record of positive responses over the years can hardly be a matter of ignorance to its political opponents.
Expedient arrangements by the AFC and APNU in rushing to work out their deal on the election of a Speaker and Deputy Speaker, contrary to the letter and spirit of an originally mooted tripartite approach to governance, following the November poll must therefore be resisted in favour of matured approaches for consensus-building
The initial response to Friday’s meeting by APNU’s chairman, David Granger, as reported, reflected a sober approach to the consultative process with his emphasis in not wanting to “compromise the discussion” that took place. We await the text of the statement on the outcome of last Friday’s efforts to lay the groundwork for, hopefully, institutionalising the tripartite process.