An agenda must have a time frame

Feb 05, 2012 Editorial

There seems to be unfolding an optimistic period since the last general elections. The newly elected Speaker of the House, Mr. Raphael Trotman told the press that he plans to engage the Republic’s President on the shape of a future Parliament. Both gentlemen met last week to discuss the working of Parliament. It is interesting to note that both men are new to their respective jobs and may want to carve out a legacy for themselves.
Parallel to this is the tripartite talks between the three leaders – President, Opposition Leader, and Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan. Already the leaders have agreed on an agenda. On the list are the old age pension scheme; GECOM, which definitely would be on the top of the list of the opposition parties; and the composition of state boards. No doubt the latter put there against the backdrop of the present controversy swirling around the Council of the University of Guyana.
All of this is of interest to every Guyanese citizen. But the older and more cynical among us may not prefer the word optimism. They would tell us that they have been there before. This country has always promised so much but has never delivered. It reminds us of one of Guyana’s outstanding cricketers and one of the West Indies most elegant batsmen, Carl Hooper.
During his playing days, the consensus in world cricket was that Hooper was so talented that he will get right up there as one of the greatest batsmen cricket produced. Year after year, Hooper promised so much but the statistics didn’t reveal that at the end of his career.
Guyanese politicians are like Carl Hooper only in this context we have to speak of sincerity not talent.
Sincerity among politicians working for the greater cause of Guyana has been the motto of Guyanese politicians across the spectrum since self-government in the fifties. Sixty years after, the balance sheet is empty. Can the politicians rise to the occasion this time? We are on the threshold of history. For the very first time, we have de facto power-sharing – the PPP controls the Executive branch of government, the opposition has taken the legislative arm of government.
Will there be a sustained period of optimism? It can only come if there is a time frame for the talks between ruling party and opposition. We have seen several such endeavours in the past and time killed them all. Briefly, there was the Commission of Inquiry into the University of Guyana, Commission of Inquiry into the Disciplined Forces, the Herdmanston Accord, just to name three. Nothing came out of them. They were killed by the passage of time.
President Jagdeo and Opposition Leader, Desmond Hoyte started what has become known in the Guyanese dictionary of politics as, The Dialogue. Hardly any results were produced because the months turned into years. Robert Corbin replaced the deceased Hoyte and The Dialogue became a victim of time again. Will a Raphael Trotman’s Parliament and the tripartite talks just disappear with the passage of time? The answer is no if a time span is strictly adhered to.
When opposition politicians meet with a Prime Minister or President to arrive at changes in policy-making, there is the immediate birth of expectations on the part of the supporters of those opposition politicians. These supporters feel that their leaders are going to press the State to get them things that rightfully belong to them. We have no doubt that both Messrs Granger and Ramjattan know this and that the other leaders in the APNU and AFC know this too.
The onus is on APNU and AFC to deliver. They have gone into talks to get more money for our pensioners, reform GECOM, change the composition of the UG Council, reduce VAT, implement the Michael Davies Report on the fundamental restructuring of Parliament, re-shape the country’s tax law among a host of other items on an impressive agenda.
These two opposition parties have to put a time frame on the changes Parliament will bring about and the changes that the Executive office will offer the nation through negotiations with the opposition. If the months drag on, 2012 passes into history and at the start of a brand new year in 2013, and nothing concrete comes out of Parliament and the tripartite talks, then people will not only lose faith in politics but may permanently turn their backs on the opposition. It has happened before right here in Guyana in the recent past.

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