AGAINST the backdrop of a prorogued Parliament on November 10, 2013, by President Donald Ramotar, Leader of the main opposition, David Granger is maintaining his “no-talks” condition, once Parliament remains under prorogation. 

The A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) leader made this disclosure yesterday at his party’s weekly press conference where he reiterated this position, which was expressed since the time of

prorogation.
Earlier in the week, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon had hinted at the possibility of talks outside Parliament, for the presentation of the 2015 Budget which is expected to be presented later this year.
This prompted reporters to question Granger’s position once more, on the issue of talks outside of Parliament. However, a stiff-necked Granger maintained that his decision not to hold talks once Parliament is prorogued was as a result of a decision made by APNU.
“As long as there is prorogation, there will be no talks” the Opposition Leader said, adding that “I have certain Opposition roles to perform and those roles will be performed but as far as talks on political matters are concerned, there will be no talks, as long as Parliament remains under prorogation.”
The emphatic assertion of “no talks” was made in a letter sent on December 3, to President Donald Ramotar, which served as Granger’s acknowledgment and response to the President’s November 18 invitation to the Main Opposition for talks.
According to the Granger camp, via a brief missive sent the media on December 3, 2014 and titled, ‘Leader of the Opposition responds to the President’, ”Brigadier David Granger, Leader of the Opposition, has responded to the letter from President Donald Ramotar, dated 18th November 2014 and entitled ‘Inter-Prorogation Dialogue’.
“The Opposition Leader iterated that APNU would be unprepared to participate in such a proposed dialogue for as long as the Parliament of Guyana remained prorogued.”
Both APNU and the Alliance for Change (AFC), at the time of the prorogation, made it clear that they will not engage the President in talks unless the prorogation is lifted and parliamentary work resumes.
The President had always maintained that the need for dialogue was uppermost in his mind when he made his decision to prorogue the 10th Parliament. Paving the way for greater dialogue among political parties, he contends, would have kept the 10th Parliament alive to address critically important issues currently before the National Assembly.
Some of these matters include: The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) (Amendment) Bill, which is currently with the Parliamentary Special Select Committee; and the second reading of the Education Bill 2014, the Land Surveyors Bill 2014, and the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill 2014.
Also among the Bills scheduled for a first reading are the Food Safety Bill 2014, and the Motor Vehicles Insurance (Third Party Risks) (Amendment) Bill 2014. Other important matters before the National Assembly include the appointment of Members to the Rights of the Child Commission (ROC) and the Women and Gender Equality Commission.
The President also made it clear that if these efforts prove futile, there will be a move to early general elections which is expected to be announced soon.

((Ravin Singh))