MEMBER of the Inter Religious Organisation (IRO), Reverend Ronald Mc Garrell has reiterated the need for dialogue as the way forward to address the parliamentary situation as urged by President Donald Ramotar.

The Guyanese Head of State prorogued the Parliament on November 10, and since then, the Opposition has said they are not going to engage in dialogue with the President.

During the National Communication Network’s (NCN) programme, ‘The 10th Parliament, the way Forward’ on Friday, Reverend Mc Garrell, stressed the need for the political Opposition to find common ground and that some concession will have to be made in order to bring the best results that are needed to take Guyana forward.
“If there is no discussion then we will not get anywhere, it’s very frightening if we don’t talk, I think the Opposition should reconsider their position.”
Mc Garrell said he is of the strong belief that there are capable individuals in the local society who can bring the Government and the Opposition together for dialogue.
“If we continue to do this Guyana will lose in the end. We hope we make a breakthrough sooner than later…we owe it to our children and descendants to build an ideal nation. This business of fighting, the politicians will need to realise it’s not their country, and it belongs to all of us.”

Similar sentiments were expressed by Trade Unionist Carvil Duncan who noted that when the president made his decision to prorogue the 10th Parliament he was merely opening the door as he always does for dialogue.
“What he did is primarily out of a desire to have a better Guyana and where Guyanese can reap the fruits of their labour by seeing Guyana developing. One needs to see that the president was very tolerable…”
Duncan noted that even in provocation, the President has always responded by saying there is need for dialogue in the interest of Guyana once the Opposition is prepared to put Guyana first.
“Closed doors can’t help. If one understands history well, Hitler did everything in the world and after the war he still had to sit and talk; with dialogue you can reach consensus, and you can move the process forward, and I think what the President intended to do is give Guyanese an opportunity to resolve the problem.”
Duncan also called on the Private Sector and other sections of civil society to call on their leaders to do what is right in the best interest of all Guyanese.
Meanwhile, Minister of Education Priya Manickchand has described the Speaker of the National Assembly’s call for external mediators in the current parliament situation as unpatriotic. The Minister was also speaking at the same forum with Duncan and Mc Garrell.
With mere days elapsing since the President’s proclamation to prorogue the 10th Parliament, Speaker Raphael Trotman has written to the Commonwealth Secretary General seeking his intervention in finding a solution to the situation.

President Donald Ramotar in response to the same issue said his first preference would be for Guyanese leaders to work out the issue internally.
Meanwhile Ms. Manickchand said she is confident that Guyana has people who are quite capable of working out this situation peacefully and in the interest of the citizens.
“We should try ourselves first. If you have to call in people it means you don’t have confidence in our people to solve our own problem and that is unpatriotic.”
The minister cautioned that the Guyanese people showed their confidence in their leaders whom they voted for at the last election and by calling for external help is simply showing that the leaders are not capable of serving their people’s best interest.
She also echoed sentiments expressed by her fellow Cabinet members that the President’s decision is constitutional as she rubbished claims by the Speaker of the National Assembly which seeks to suggest contrary.
Minister Manickchand noted her disappointment by the utterances of the Speaker as he has knowledge of legal issues and is au fait with the Constitution.
Further, Minister Manickchand called on the Guyanese public to continue to show their maturity and not to yield to calls by members of the Opposition for street demonstration.
“I can’t say for sure that the Opposition will accept the invitation for dialogue, but we have a duty to create an environment for dialogue to take place, the nation is important and the president’s duty was to create that space for dialogue.”