“MR. RAMOTAR will find that the same “jumbie” that he has been running away from will greet him at the National Assembly.”

These were the sentiments expressed by leader of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Brigadier (rtd.) David Granger, at a press briefing yesterday, which was held at his Hadfield street office.
His comments follow Monday’s decision by President Donald Ramotar to prorogue Parliament, which essentially means that the current session, is suspended up to a maximum of six months – a move that is provided for in Section 70 (1) of Guyana’s Constitution.
“We are still committed to the no-confidence motion and when we resume,” Granger said.
The effect of ending a session by prorogation is to terminate business.
As a result the Alliance for Change’s (AFC) no-confidence motion was not considered. The main Opposition, APNU had, prior to Monday, signalled its intent to support the push through of the motion.
Had it not been for the proclamation to prorogue Parliament, if the no-confidence motion was passed, Guyana would have been headed to early general elections within three months.
According to the Head of State the move to prorogation was intended to pave the way for greater dialogue among political parties, while keeping the 10th Parliament alive.

FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS
Despite this, Granger yesterday said that if and when Parliament reconvenes, the first order of business will be the AFC sponsored no-confidence motion.
“Whatever is stated on the Order Paper, once we assemble, we will ensure that the first item to be discussed will be the no confidence motion,” the APNU leader stressed.
He added: “They (the Government) have already lost the opportunity to consult…there is no absence of understanding between the two sides. It is not as though there is a breakdown in communication.”
The main Opposition party leader highlighted that APNU has met with the ruling party at least four times in 2014.
Granger said: “The last meeting was Monday the 20th, which was three weeks ago. There has been dialogue. We were meeting since February, we met in May, we met again in June. So there has been no shortage in meeting and it is my view that there is no shortage of understanding on the part of the President and his team what needs to be done to get Guyana out of this constitutional quagmire.”

NO TALKS
On this note, he pointed out that dialogue has not been exhausted, but in the same breath reiterated the party’s position, that there will be no talks with the current administration unless the prorogation of Parliament is lifted.
“There was room inside of Parliament for dialogues to continue. He shut the doors to dialogues. He has moved the dialogue from inside the Chambers to outside the Chambers. Well we’re all outside the Chambers now. We’re all being locked out,” Granger claimed.
Additionally, a joint-statement from APNU and AFC, released on Tuesday after a meeting said: “The joint opposition has resolved that there will be no extra-parliamentary engagement with the President on the matters which were before the National Assembly.”
The President, and the Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon, have since indicated that they are still optimistic that this position will change, terming it a “first” reaction.
Noteworthy too is the fact that the President Ramotar has said that if talks fail with the combined Opposition, he will not hesitate to move to early general elections, since he has no intention of re-proroguing Parliament.
“I have taken this step with the hope that the time gained would be used for the benefit of our people….were these entreaties of cooperation by my government to be unsuccessful, I would then take the necessary steps for the holding of early General Elections so that the democratic will of our people can be freely exercised,” Mr. Ramotar had said.