THE DOORS TO POLITICAL COOPERATION ARE SHUT TIGHT

Jan 17, 2010 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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The opposition parties must not be distracted by this latest call by the President for a framework for increased political cooperation. If by now the opposition parties and the other national stakeholders do not recognize that no meaningful and sustained political cooperation is likely to occur under the Jagdeo administration, then it is evident that they have learnt nothing from the political history over the past decade.
Last December it was made clear that there was never any commitment to institutionalize the National Stakeholders Forum. This forum is always going to be summoned at the behest of the government and whenever the need arises. For the government, the Stakeholders Forum is a self-serving vehicle. Whenever it is deemed necessary to bring the stakeholders together to either help the government out of a tight situation or to make the administration look good, the forum is going to be called.
When the Buxton gang went on the rampage in 2008 and slaughtered innocent citizens, including children in their sleep, the government needed the help of the stakeholders to help them deal with the crisis. They wanted a total condemnation of the situation and thus the stakeholders were invited to come up with a response.
No sooner had the situation been restored to normalcy, the stakeholders were relegated to spectators in the national inclusive process and we heard about the need for parliament to be placed where inclusiveness would take place.
Right now there is a crisis in Haiti and the government needs all Guyanese to come onboard its relief efforts. And so the National Stakeholders Forum has been brought out of hibernation for the process. Now also we are hearing again about the need for a framework for political cooperation.
In Haiti we are facing a humanitarian crisis of unbelievable proportions. All the stakeholders need to become involved. And most are ready to be part of the relief effort. What they should not do is get carried away by their involvement in the process. There will be no process of political inclusiveness emerging from what is taking place between the national stakeholders and the government with respect to Haiti.
When the crisis is over, it will be back to business as usual. The opposition parties and the other national stakeholders therefore have to be careful about their expectations about the future. They should have done. The track record of the Jagdeo administration is not impressive when it comes to political cooperation.
The Alliance For Change tested the genuineness of the government’s commitment to political inclusiveness when it suggested that members of the opposition form part of the country’s delegation to last year’s Summit of the America’s held in Port of Spain. This approach was rebuffed by the government with the excuse that there would not be many opportunities for them to contribute and in any event the official delegation had already been registered and could not be changed. Presented with an opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to political inclusiveness, the government could only respond with excuses. So there is nothing really to build on when it comes to political cooperation.
In any event we are in the season of political competition with local government elections around the corner. So within a matter of weeks, the contest between the political parties will heat up in preparation for the forthcoming polls. Thus this is no time for anyone to be fooled into the view that some improved relationship can emerge out of the recent meeting summoned by the President.
The PPP, as a political party, is also preaching about the need for increased political cooperation, but here again the emphasis is on political cooperation in parliament. Well, we all saw what happened recently in the National Assembly during a debate on a supplementary provision for the Ministry of Housing.
The Minister was asked about specifics of the four billion dollars. He was asked about a time frame for the spending of the money. He was asked as to whether the money was already spent. He was asked whether he was prepared at a later date to bring a project profile for the amount in question. After each question, the opposition members received an inadequate answer.
The footage of that debate was shown recently on National Television. The joint opposition need to repeat that footage every day for the next few weeks in this country so as drive home to the Guyanese people the sort of administration they are dealing with.
In so doing they may also disabuse themselves and others of the notion that somehow the government should be taken seriously when they speak, as they do on occasions and at their convenience, about political cooperation.

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