…says would not be blackmailed into leaving coalition
…recommits to ideals of government of national unity
THE Working People’s Alliance (WPA) has said it will not be blackmailed into leaving the coalition, noting that APNU+AFC is the only avenue right now to a genuine government of national unity and reconstruction.
In a statement on Friday, WPA said it has noted the cheap criticisms of it on the issue of Dr. Walter Rodney and the WPA’s membership of the APNU and the APNU+AFC Coalition. “WPA frowns on those who have sought to use Rodney’s name for cheap political gains. Rodney has, in death, become a plaything for a group of political hypocrites. Many who today sing praises to Walter Rodney never joined his cause when he was alive or in the difficult period following his assassination.” The party said some had dismissed him as an adventurist while others taunted him as an “ultra-leftist and a “Black Intellectual.” According to the WPA, the then leader of the PPP, Dr. Cheddi Jagan, went as far as telling supporters that Rodney promised Guyana a Christmas present, but they instead got his body on a platter. “These same people today maliciously try to tie WPA’s membership of the APNU and the APNU+AFC government to a fictitious betrayal of Walter Rodney and our party’s core principles. They have made that line part of their narrative aimed at breaking up the coalition.”

“WPA will not allow its critics to misrepresent what Rodney stood for. We wish to remind Guyana that in 1979 Rodney was one of the key architects of the WPA’s proposals for a “Government of National Unity and Reconstruction,” which was aimed at putting an end to one-party governance. He spent a lot of time on the political platform arguing for mass support for such a government.” The WPA said that at that time it did not see a role for the PNC in such a government on the grounds that it was not a democratically-elected government. “But, in 1985, Brother Eusi Kwayana, on behalf of the WPA, announced that our party would join the PNC in a unity government if that party agrees to free and fair elections. As we know, the PNC in 1990 in negotiations with the Patriotic Coalition for Democracy, which included the PPP, WPA, the DLM and other forces, under the mediation of President Jimmy Carter, agreed to free and fair elections,” the party stated.

According to WPA its movement, therefore, towards partnership with other political forces with which they differ ideologically and politically is consistent with the Rodneyite principle of national unity and reconciliation. “WPA continues to believe that ultimately only a broad-based government of all political forces under a power sharing government could bring the desired healing that our country cries out for. But in the meantime, we are prepared to work with all forces that are committed to incrementally work towards that end. We see the APNU and the APNU+AFC as avenues to a genuine Government of National Unity and Reconstruction,” the WPA asserted.

NATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION
Additionally, the WPA said it has not joined any party; but rather joined with other parties in pursuit of one of the core principles of our party—national unity and reconstruction. “WPA’s membership of the partnership does not diminish our independence. Far from it, our independent praxis is now needed more than ever. But we will not allow others to dictate for us how that independence should be manifested. Some of our leading members have publicly and consistently taken the coalition to task on key issues over the last five years and they will continue to speak out against wrongdoing and in support of a wholesome politics. WPA has never discouraged such critiques because they are consistent with our traditional values.”

The party said it is the only party in the coalition whose members have spoken out against the wrong turns made by the Coalition Government. “That the President has on more than one occasion tangled with our leaders in the public domain is glaring testimony to that fact. WPA’s participation in the coalition is not grounded in blind loyalty to any other party—our loyalty is to Guyana and the pursuit of a wholesome politics.”

CASH TRANSFERS
Further, the WPA said more recently, the issue of the cash transfer proposal has brought to the fore the WPA’s independence of thought and the ideological difference between the WPA and its partners. “Our stand with the poor and the powerless is not premised on cheap electoralism, academic abstraction or political gimmickry, but on a deep commitment to a humanist politics. But our ideological difference does not blind us to a larger need for national consensus,” the WPA said. The party said it respects diversity and plurality as key components of Guyana’s political and socio-economic reality. “It was one of our leaders, Professor Clive Thomas who, in 2005, opined that the real test of a party’s mettle is not how well it works with those with whom it agrees, but by its ability to find common ground with those with whom it does not share the same values and culture.”

WPA said it cherishes its independence and will never sacrifice it in the name of political expediency. “WPA has recommitted to the coalition as a matter of national duty. Our relations with our partners going forward would be governed by a convergence of mutual respect, consensus and our right to take independent positions on overarching matters that have to do with defence of the poor, democratic values and political morality. In other words, WPA will be guided by a praxis which is grounded in the synthesis of consensus and independence.”

According to the WPA its role in the current election campaign will be more visible and in keeping with “our understanding of our place in contemporary Guyanese politics. We will articulate within the coalition and beyond the views and aspirations of the critical mass in the wider population who share our political culture and positions on issues. We will lend our voice and ideas to the collective coalition platform, but we will also use the opportunity to rally the country to a more uplifting political culture that is bigger that electoral contestation. When we speak, we will be speaking with the voice of the people, especially the poor and the working classes of all races and ethnicities,” the WPA said.