Latest update April 9th, 2025 12:59 AM
Election Blues… Outcome of no-confidence motion is just “over-the-bar” shouting – Luncheon
Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon
Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon says that since the combined opposition showcased its no-confidence motion against the Ramotar Administration, political activities of an electoral nature have surged on the ground.
Dr. Luncheon made this assertion during his press conference which was held yesterday at Office of the President. He said that as it relates to the “election blues”, the focus on GECOM’s readiness, notwithstanding the electoral activity, suggest that the outcome of the no-confidence motion is “over the bar shouting.”
He said too that the attention paid to the constituency and national alliance politics have occupied the minds of most of the theorists and practitioners of politics. In that context, he highlighted that the remnants of “the 1980 Burnhamite Constitution” (The late former President Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham) are relevant as “that crafty politician in “his Constitution” ensured that “you could lose but you can still win.”
The Cabinet Secretary was then asked to what extent he would be comfortable with engaging the opposition in any form of shared governance. To this he responded, “I wouldn’t encourage the media to see the Cabinet as a substitute or equal forum when it comes to pronouncing on party partisan issues. Notwithstanding the fact that indeed government and the governing party enjoy a relationship that is very close, it still insists that the PPPC government is the government for all Guyana and its pronouncements reflect considered views of its obligations towards Guyana and all Guyanese.”
Dr. Luncheon then said that for such questions, he would suspect that the PPP party would insist they be posed to party and not government.
He added, “I would say that in so far as the Constitutional provisions that allow for minority governments, it is not a peculiarity of the Guyanese situation. Minority governments in some parts of the world maintain their way of doing things; the emphasis perhaps needs to be more on making minority governments work as opposed to preventing minority governments… We are recognizing that minority governments are a feature of the electoral and government landscape internationally.”
The Cabinet Secretary then reiterated that prominence really shouldn’t be given to actions geared towards getting rid of minority governments but to make them work in the interest of the body politic of the people in those countries where it actually exists.
Asked what mechanisms can be put in place to include the Opposition more in governing the country, the Cabinet Secretary said that that question is one of the many that will be answered in the quest to make minority governments work.
While Dr. Luncheon sang the election blues yesterday, Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman in an interview with this publication had stated that the political opposition cannot be faulted for the no-confidence motion which is expected to be debated in Parliament in October.
Asked whether he believes that the motion which was laid in the Assembly by the Alliance For Change (AFC) is the best option for the people at this time, Trotman said, “If the Opposition feels that it has exhausted every recourse towards compromise in getting government to see its way, well then I can’t fault them.”
“Certainly, there is the impression that every effort has been made to frustrate the work of the Parliament, and I would have to agree with it.”
Trotman said that if the parties feel that they have had enough and have exhausted all options, then he can “understand their position.”
The Speaker opined as well, “For me, every option should be explored and if there is no room for dialogue and agreement then we owe it to the people to go for a fresh mandate and if we are going to continue to be fighting for the next three years then that makes no sense.”
He added, “Perhaps, it is not such a bad thing if we are to go to the polls, so we either get a clear majority or we are returned with the same situation. And if we are returned with it, we will have to find away to make it work.”
“But let me say this, it is not fair and right for the people of Guyana to be made to suffer through this for another three years,” Trotman concluded.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
The geography of pettiness
Kaieteur News – You have to admire the commitment. Not to international diplomacy, mind you, but to the art of the... more
The U.S. “Joining” the Commonwealth: an unreasonable expectation
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- Recent media stories have suggested that King Charles III could “invite” the United... more
Weekend Cartoon
