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AFC supports call for referendum on 2016 oil deal -Patterson
AFC Chairman, David Patterson
Kaieteur News- The Alliance for Change (AFC) on Friday said that it will support a referendum on ExxonMobil’s 2016 oil contract with Guyana. The party made this disclosure during its weekly press conference.
Chairman of the party David Patterson in response to a question posed by Kaieteur News made it clear that the AFC believes that a referendum should be held prior to elections, that are scheduled for 2025.
Earlier this week, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said that a referendum being held at the same time of the 2025 General and Regional Elections would complicate the voting process.
A referendum is a general vote by the electorate on a single political question that has been referred to them for a direct decision.
However, Patterson made it clear that oil and gas is not the lone issue that requires a referendum. He pointed to the need to make amendments to certain clauses in the Constitution and those proposed amendments should be put to a vote via a referendum.
“We (the AFC) would support a referendum to do all of those things including matters of oil and gas, (being) on a referendum (even) prior to the elections,” the AFC Chairman said.
He reminded that the AFC is part of the Constitution Reform Committee and matters inclusive of the country’s newest natural resource must be discussed.
“Maybe it will be a good idea to include not only the recommendations from that constitutional committee (and) it will be a good idea to include other issues that we do think is necessary. Not only the oil and gas… the issue of death penalty, of course which I feel strongly about in the sense that it’s something that should not on our books,” Patterson said.
The AFC member said too that if the government is as confident as it claims then it should be inclined to “have one referendum to change all these things before the elections.”
Amid repeated calls by citizens and other stakeholders for a renegotiation of the lopsided ExxonMobil contract, which his government has stubbornly resisted, Jagdeo, who is also General Secretary of the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP) on Wednesday sought to rule out any move towards deciding the issue via a referendum at next year’s general elections.
Jagdeo was asked the question by Journalist Denis Chabrol during his weekly news conference to which he said, political parties contesting the polls should state their positions on the matter and let the electorate decide if they want such a party to govern Guyana.
Additionally, Jagdeo believes that conducting a referendum at the same time of the elections could complicate matters. A number of developed and developing countries all over the world have held referendums at the same time as national elections. These include the United States.
Chabrol asked Jagdeo: “for instance in the Cayman Islands, they are putting to referendum alongside their upcoming elections whether they should be constructing piers to accommodate larger cruise ships. So, I am just giving you that as a slight background so to speak, in light of the debate about the need to renegotiate the Exxon contract would your government or party be inclined to put that to a referendum as well?”
Jagdeo responded: “The referendum again, this is a matter that has to be discussed and debated on…this issue whether there would be a referendum so you get yes from the referendum…ummm…because Christopher did a suspect survey, nobody pays attention to these suspect surveys, so the referendum could yield this.”
He explained that as leader of the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C), he does not want to complicate the 2025 electoral process. According to him, there is also the belief that the opposition would go in favour of the referendum to complicate the process.
“Citizens of Guyana are sensible enough to choose at the upcoming elections, the political party with a plan and they would be able to hear from them whether or not the party is in favour of renegotiation, and if it can actually be implemented.” Going back to the 2020 election period, he told reporters that his party was very clear that when they got into government, they would not renegotiate the contract and yet they got the support of all the citizens who voted for them because they are of the opinion that the PPP is a very serious party.
(AFC supports call for referendum on 2016 oil deal)
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