Are things going to be different now, Bharrat?

Sep 15, 2008 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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It has finally happened! It was the most significant political gesture made by the PPP for some time.
Even though it was made at a press conference, I hope that the opposition and civil society have been able to recognize this extended hand that was offered by the President; and at this time, when reciprocity is very much a hot topic of political and social discourse, that they would respond by testing the President’s goodwill.

Upon returning home after the humiliation of the rest of the region turning their backs on him, the President called a press conference to denounce once again the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and to offer his views on the summit, in which all the other countries, save and except Haiti, voted to sign the agreement.

In the midst of his admission of failure to convince the leaders of the region that they should pause and not sign, the President acknowledged the support he had from the main opposition and from civil society.

He indicated that just as he was critical and disappointed in the main opposition’s non-support for CARIFESTA, he wished to thank them for the stand they took in relation to the EPA.

This was a nice and unexpected gesture by the President to show his appreciation to all those who, in the national interest, supported his rejection of the Economic Partnership Agreement.

Of course, just as how the President has accepted the opposition’s support, he should equally be willing to accept some of their criticisms where these have merit.

The opposition has, over the years, been offering all manner of constructive criticisms of the Government, but these have, in the main, been cruelly rejected.

Are we in a new period? Will the Government now be willing to consider more favourably proposals being made by the wider society which is neither PPP nor part of the international financial community which so dominates the formation of domestic policy?

For example, a local NGO, on which Dr. Rupert Roopnarine is a part, has made a proposal to help alleviate the situation at the Mandela Dumpsite.

Will the Government, which surely has an obligation to come to the rescue of its citizens, be willing to consider this proposal as part of any intervention it undertakes? Can we now expect this?

Professor Clive Thomas was one of those who supported the rejection of the EPA and who spoke at the national consultations. For eighteen weeks, he had flayed away at the agreement.

Now that his contribution at the consultations has been acknowledged, can we expect the professor to play a more involved role in terms of the economy of this country?

Can he not be made an advisor to the President, so just as how the President was able to relay much of what Thomas had said about the EPA, so too would the Government benefit from his insights into the local and international economies?

Even if this is asking too much, at least some consideration should be given to Thomas’s comments on the inflation rate.

After all, the Peeper has been paying $340 per lb for chicken in the markets for some weeks now, a price that is far higher than what obtained last Christmas.

Surely, in the face of this, it is difficult to reconcile with reality that the inflation rate is now coming under control. Could the Government commission a team, headed by Thomas, to review the numbers to see whether they make sense?

Thirdly, the opposition PNCR has called on the Government to make known the names of the contractors who are awarded Government contracts. Surely, there can be no justifiable reason not to reveal this. After all, the public has a right to know just how its monies are being spent.

Each week, there is a Cabinet press briefing in which the Head of the Presidential Secretariat announces the various contracts that Cabinet has awarded.

He, however, never states to whom the contracts have been awarded, and I am sure there can be no devil in him adding this simple detail. All that he has to do is to simply state the contract that was awarded, for what it was awarded, and to whom it was awarded.

By doing that, the Government would be responding positively to a reasonable request by the opposition.
Not all contracts, of course, are awarded by Cabinet; but since there is already the practice of announcing the contracts considered by Cabinet, this is at least somewhere to start to show that the President was indeed sincere about his appreciation for the position adopted by the PNCR in relation to the EPA.

There are a great many people in this country who do not see eye-to-eye with the ruling PPPC government. And the vast majority of these persons are still willing, despite their reservations, to play a role in improving things in Guyana.

We have to move away from this philosophy of ‘if you are not with me you are against me.’
 Throughout our history, we have seen persons who are willing to make a contribution. They should be given that chance.

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