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Retreat needed to settle coalition issues –Trotman
Cabinet, it seems, is not the appropriate place for the Alliance For Change (AFC) to settle its marital disputes
Natural Resources Minister, Raphael Trotman
with A Partnership for National Unity (APNU). According to Natural Resources Minister, Raphael Trotman, dealing with certain issues will require a retreat or a high level meeting.
He made this comment on Wednesday after he was asked about whether the AFC’s concerns were addressed at recent Cabinet meetings.
Trotman recalled that the AFC at a recent retreat reviewed and considered internal matters with regard to the party’s operations and structure along with its role as part of the Coalition Government of Guyana.
He said that among the matters discussed at the AFC retreat was the issue of the appointment of a Ministerial Advisor on Business Development by the Minister of State and other revelations in the public domain.
The Alliance for Change is of the opinion that the current difficulties which the government has encountered in the revelations arising out of the appointment of the Advisor on Business Development and the issues surrounding this, have their roots in the concentration of the powers of the office of the Cabinet Secretary, the Minister of State in the Ministry of the Presidency and the effective Head of the Presidential Secretariat in a single person.
The Party had said that the responsibilities of each of the above portfolios are substantial and of critical importance to the smooth operations of the government and would benefit from separate appointments.
The Alliance for Change also mandated its leadership in Cabinet to have these issues raised and addressed as a matter of national importance.
Trotman said, “The President did encourage to Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo and Alliance For Change Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan to speak on the matter and they gave their opinion. They were not hindered in any way and so the matter was discussed at the level of the Cabinet.”
Questioned on whether the matter was resolved at that forum, Trotman asserted, “It cannot be settled in a Cabinet which is a governmental institution.”
The Minister of Natural Resources said that both sides would have to meet at some high level summit and work through those matters.
As the Government approaches its first year in office, the AFC Executive member asserted that there will be such a gathering where the parties involved would look at the “triumphs, the hills and the valleys, the lows and the highs” of the coalition Government and the relationship between the parties.
He reiterated that Cabinet is not a place where those matters can be settled.
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