…President to lead talks with opposition
…after President Jimmy Carter intervention

PRESIDENT David Granger has agreed to lead talks between the government and the opposition following intervention by former United States (US) President Jimmy Carter, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo said.

Jagdeo made the comments on Thursday on the corridors of the Parliament Building shortly after he met with President Granger at State House. At the time the President, along with Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams and Minister of State Joseph Harmon, was meeting with Jagdeo and other PPP Executives to discuss the appointment of Public Service Commission and the Police Service Commission.

Jagdeo told the media that he received a call from President Carter last week after the former President got word that the PPP had refused the offer to engage in amiable talks with Government. “The impression I got from President Carter is that in his conversation with the President the President stated that he was inclined to have talks with us but we in the PPP we not so inclined because we don’t like Nagamootoo. And, so, I pointed out the President Carter that it was not Nagamootoo that was the issue, it was our concern that…he would not be able to commit the APNU or the PNC to anything at the meeting,” Jagdeo said.

No Nagamootoo
However, despite saying this now in a statement issued back in 2015, the PPP had this to say regarding Nagamootoo: “Knowing the dim view the PPP holds of Moses Nagamootoo, the APNU+AFC by insisting that he is their ‘best man’ who will head its team must know that that initiative will go nowhere. Thus, by pushing Nagamootoo centre stage, it is now pellucidly clear that the coalition’s objective is not to have any talks at all, but to put the PPP/C on the defensive and to project the party as refusing to engage in talks with the Government.” The Prime Minister Nagamootoo, who is a former PPP executive, has maintained that he had no axe to grind with the PPP and is ready to enter talks on national unity.

President will lead
According to Jagdeo, at their engagement on Thursday the President opted that if the PPP has an issue with the Prime Minister, he (the President) would lead the discussions which are to be focused on the pertinent issues of crime, oil and gas and the environment.
Although the compromise was made, the Opposition Leader told the media that he would have to discuss with the PPP Executives whether the body wishes to deliberate with the Government on the above mentioned issues.

“He said “if you have a problem with Nagamootoo…I myself would lead the talks”. So I undertook to have a discussion with the party so we will decide whether we will engage with this and whether we want to add issues to the agenda,” he told the media, later adding: “There is a view out there that the Government wants us to discuss these three issues because these are the most vulnerable ones, the ones we are most critical on and that engaging us on discussions they will reduce the level of criticism.”
Jagdeo also said that there was also the misunderstanding by President Carter that the Government had offered to deliberate on the matters of Governance and Constitutional Reform and the PPP had rejected the offer.

For decades, the former US President has been involved in the assistance of smooth political processes in Guyana facilitating the country’s first internationally certified free and fair election in 1992. He last visited Guyana in 2015 where he co-led the Carter Center’s 100th election observation mission of the May 11 General and Regional elections.

Over the years, there have been calls for the major political parties, the PPP and the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) to put their differences aside and have political dialogue on social and economic matters as of high importance. Collaboration by the major political forces, it has been opined, can foster confidence, trust as well as good, cordial relations at the national level, thereby obtaining solutions to matters of national importance.

The APNU+AFC coalition government has from its very formation stressed inclusionary governance. In fact, President Granger has repeatedly said that his administration is committed to inclusionary democracy and is prepared to consider executive power-sharing with the PPP/C. Back in September 2015, the President noted that at that year’s General and Regional Elections, the coalition secured 51 per cent of the votes cast by the electorate and as such, it would not be prudent for his Government to exclude the PPP/C base. “We have at all times aimed at having inclusionary democracy and inclusionary Government, so that the 49 per cent don’t feel locked out.” The head-of-state stressed that national unity is part of the philosophy of the coalition and noted that there must be some form of sharing, national unity and inclusionary governance.

Dysfunctional
However, last year July during an interview with this newspaper the President had said that there has been a consistent lack of cooperation by the Opposition to have dialogue with the government on matters of national importance outside of constitutional requirements. The President had described the non-cooperation by the Opposition as “dysfunctional,”, while insisting that his administration is not opposed to talks with the Opposition on non-constitutional matters, but noted that “It is good to speak with people who are prepared to speak with you and we have had some difficulties.”

He noted that the resistance by the Opposition does not exist only at the level of central Government, but also regionally. “I have been to some meetings and the regional chairman won’t come to meet me, the Ministry of Communities has had seminars and the persons who have been elected on the PPP ticket don’t show up; municipal and regional levels.”
President Granger assured that notwithstanding the challenges faced with regard to political dialogue between the coalition Government and the Opposition, he has no issue consulting with the PPP outside of constitutional matters. “So we have had a lack of cooperation from the Opposition in many areas. I would consult them yes, in matters of GECOM and things I am required to consult him on, and outside of the Constitution, but they have been very uncooperative.”