TOMORROW could well be Decision Day (DD) for the future of parliamentary governance in Guyana as currently represented in the 65-member National Assembly by the PPP/C and the Opposition alliance of APNU and AFC which, together, have a one-seat majority against the ruling party’s 32. Both the PPP and Opposition parties appeared to be in readiness up to late yesterday for a decisive political showdown with the latter affirming commitment to go ahead with their controversial “no confidence” against the Government.
On the other hand, the ruling party remained committed to stand by President Donald Ramotar’s warning to exercise his constitutional powers to prorogue parliament should the APNU/AFC’s motion succeed.
Ironically, two former political defectors—one from the PPP (Moses Nagamootoo) and the other from the PNCR (Speaker of Parliament, Raphael Trotman) are expected to play significant roles, with the latter presiding and the former slated to move the no-confidence motion.
In between this two-some would be the WPA’s Rupert Roopnarine who, in functioning as an APNU parliamentarian, has been engaged in strategising on the timing and modalities of presentation of the “no-confidence” motion.
This scenario itself is occurring against the backdrop of what’s now an open secret—the failure of the APNU and AFC to move ahead with plans to scrap their separateness in favour of a united new party, something with which the AFC’s current leader, Khemraj Ramjattan—himself, like Nagamootoo, a PPP defector—continues to openly reject.
Meanwhile, in the absence of any known agreement between APNU and AFC, the PNCR’s leader, retired Brigadier David Granger, has opted to go public with a threat on Friday to mobilise the forces of his party for an anti-government showdown unless President Ramotar comes forward with specific details on the holding of the overdue local government elections.
In the circumstances, independent observers are seeking to follow the logic of Mr. Granger’s latest political tantrum over the non-scheduling of local government elections in the face of the threatened showdown in parliament tomorrow.
While separately and together leading political elements of APNU-e.g Granger and Roopnarine–as well as Ramjattan and Nagamootoo of the AFC are engaged in bamboozling the public with their media interventions, the harsh reality is that in practical terms the Opposition two-some remain divided.
And, sadly, both by their strategies and activities the ultimate sufferers are the GUYANESE PEOPLE. Therefore, we also anxiously await the outcome of tomorrow’s threatened political developments in the National Assembly.