Granger insists that WPA not side-lined

Jun 22, 2017 News

President David Granger has definitively stated that the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) has not been side-lined in any way within the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Alliance for Change (AFC) coalition government.

President David Granger

Granger made this position clear yesterday following the swearing in of Dela Britton as Chairperson of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC). He was asked to respond to allegations by members of the WPA that their party is being side-lined in the coalition.
The allegations against the APNU coalition of side-lining the WPA were made as recent as Monday during a WPA press conference. There, WPA Executive Member, Tacuma Ogunseye said, “The WPA was completely side-lined, and there is no question about that. We may argue about why; but, any objective examiner would come to that conclusion.”
He went further to say that the APNU has not met for close to two years. As a result, he said that the ministries in government are being driven by Cabinet decisions and not from the involvement of political parties.
Also present at the press conference was another Executive Member of the WPA, Dr. David Hinds. He said that in addition to the WPA there are other parties in the coalition that have complained about being side-lined within the government.
“We have not side-lined any party,” President Granger said. On July 15, 2011, five parties formed the APNU; the Guyana Action Party (GAP), the Justice For All Party (JFAP), National Front Alliance (NFA), Working People’s Alliance and the People’s National Congress.”
The President said that he was very careful in 2015 to ensure that each party in the APNU is represented in the National Assembly and has a position. “So Minister Keith Scott represented NFA, Minister Jaipaul Sharma represented the JFAP, Minister Sydney Allicock represented the Guyana Action Party (GAP), and Minister Roopnaraine represented the Working People’s Alliance (WPA).”
He reiterated that each party has been represented and there has been no side-lining of any one of the parties. He said that all selections made after the May 2015 General and Regional Elections were based on his commitment to have inclusionary democracy and to ensure that all parties of the coalition are represented.
The President was further asked whether he was concerned about the allegations. “I run a coalition and I do not attack my partners. I have not expressed any concern; I have not reacted but I know where we are going. I know the importance of the coalition to social cohesion, to inclusionary democracy and to the future of this country.”
He said that it is not possible for the business of the coalition to be efficiently and effectively transacted in the media, “I don’t do business like that.”
The President was quizzed on why consultations were not done before the nominations for government Ministers were made. He said that it is inconceivable that members from six coalition parties would have been nominated without each party being consulted.
Granger said that one of the more important issues that need to be considered is how that allegation came to be made. He said that each representative of the political parties was a nominee of those parties.
Last Saturday, the WPA and the President participated in a meeting concerning the reassignment of Dr Rupert Roopnaraine to the Public Service Ministry.