Will the leaders of the PPP heed the call of congress?

Aug 16, 2008 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

I do not know how serious to take a declaration emerging out of the 29th Congress of the People’s Progressive Party which indicated that party’s willingness to work with opposition parties and others.

It is not the first time that such a message has been forthcoming but these have hardly led to any genuine cooperation, dialogue or inclusive politics.

The PPP’s track record when it comes to political accommodation has been extremely opportunistic and woeful.

The PPP only reaches out when it is in trouble and no sooner does it achieve its own stated ends, it abandons engagement.

A case in point was the call for a national consensus following the Lusignan massacre. In a show of national solidarity, the opposition and civil society came on board, only to find that the process of engagement has been virtually abandoned since. In fact, the agreements reached during that encounter have not progressed as was expected.

The government has not yet seen it fit to appoint a commission of inquiry into the Bartica and Lusignan massacres and following the Lindo Creek slaughter, it was approached by the Alliance For Change. Again there has been a mysterious but callous neglect to appoint a commission of inquiry.

Then at the opening of the Congress it was stated that the party could not, when under attack, be making political concessions.

This was a fallback to the stubborn, unyielding positions of the PPP ever since 1997, a stance that has taken this country downhill and resulted in so much instability and violence which has pained and tormented our people.

It was therefore something of a reversal when in the declaration at the conclusion of the 29th Congress of the party, it was revealed that the party was proposing discussions with the parliamentary parties and other groups.

This along with the stunning revival of the political career of Moses Nagamootoo was an indication of the rejection of the inflexible positions that the party’s leadership and more particularly the government has been adopting.

While this declaration does not bind the government to engage with the parliamentary opposition and civil groupings, the Jagdeo administration cannot afford to ignore this particular aspect of the Congress declaration, even more so when one considers that it was in direct contradiction with what was stated in the report of the Central Committee.

However, it is one thing for Congress to call for an engagement with the opposition and other groups and it is another thing for the leadership to move in that direction.

Congress is over and the delegates have returned to their normal lives. In between congresses it is the Executive Committee of the party that “calls the shots.”

The opposition parties will most likely be disinclined to have discussions with the ruling party unless they are assured that the government will go along with any agreements reached, since despite any talks being all-party discussions, the subject matter of those talks would require action and agreement by the government.

Even for engagements limited to parliament, the support of the government is vital. For example, there is at present a controversial piece of legislation before the House concerning appeals.

However, since it is the government, which we are told by convention, is solely responsible for the tabling of legislation, any compromise agreement reached on this subject between the parties would have to find approval at least in principle by the government.

The PPP has an opportunity to demonstrate its seriousness about engagements with the parliamentary opposition and other groupings by developing a model and timetable for such a process.

Not moving ahead with this most important aspect of its Congress Declaration would constitute an act of contempt for the highest forum of the party.

One does not expect this to happen. However, politics and especially the politics of the PPP have not always followed a predictable path.

Considering that the persons who placed third and fifth respectively at the elections for the Central Committee of the party could not find a place on the Executive Committee of the party, it would not be surprising if the call by Congress for a political rapprochement with the opposition parties and other groups falls on deaf ears.

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Will the leaders of the PPP heed the call of congress?

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