Jagdeo looking for excuses to downplay calls for referendum to renegotiate oil contract – Chris Ram

Nov 06, 2024 News

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Kaieteur News- Chartered Account and lawyer Christopher Ram on Saturday said that Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo is looking for excuses to downplay calls for a referendum on the renegotiation of the country’s oil contract with U.S. oil giant, ExxonMobil.

In his column published in the Stabroek News titled, ‘Renegotiations, Referendums, and Reality – response to Ram & McRae’s Survey’ Ram said that the Vice President has no power to decide whether Guyanese can have a referendum.

“Let us be clear: it is not within any VP’s power to decide whether Guyanese can have a referendum. The Constitution establishes referendums as a democratic tool, with such decisions resting with the National Assembly and the President, not with a party official, however high up. While Mr. Jagdeo is the General Secretary of the ruling party, he is not even the First Vice President – that position belongs to Brigadier Mark Phillips by virtue of his position as Prime Minister.”

Last week, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo ruled out holding a referendum simultaneously during next year’s elections saying that he does not want to complicate matters and that the electorate will decide on the question of renegotiation based on the party they elect to office.

A referendum is a general vote by the electorate on a single political question that has been referred to them for a direct decision.

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.

In response to the Vice President, Ram said, “his reaction betrays a troubling resistance to public discourse about Guyana’s most valuable natural resource”.

Campaign Promises Vs Now

Ram reminded that the Vice President’s statement on a referendum on the renegotiation of the 2016 oil contract clearly contradicts his party’s promises during the 2020 election campaign.

At the time, the People’s Progressive Party’s (PPP) manifesto as well as a number of its campaign speeches promised the Guyanese people not only to review the oil contract but to renegotiate the terms of the said contract.

“Now, the VP attempts to rewrite history, claiming ‘we showed that we can get more out of the contract’ through peripheral arrangements like the gas-to-energy project and Local Content Law. The evidence suggests otherwise. The gas-to-energy project’s terms remain outside of the 2016 Agreement and are troublingly opaque, with mounting questions about its actual cost to Guyanese taxpayers,” Ram stressed.

He highlighted that the Local Content Law is defined too broadly and the reviews promised by the government since last year are yet to be done.

“Most critically, the cost recovery provisions still allow operators to claim up to 75% of revenues, leaving Guyana with a diminished share of its resource wealth, environmental protections remain inadequate, and worse of all, Jagdeo and the PPP/C are placing the myth of sanctity of contract over national sovereignty. Please see columns 133 – 135. Egregiously, the country is without the all-important Petroleum Commission, with the unacceptable substitute being the VP himself and the Ministry of Natural Resources, with its poor track record,” the Chartered Accountant said.

Additionally, Ram said that Jagdeo’s claim that a referendum would be complicating the electoral process is defying the “constitutional precedent and global democratic practices.”

“Numerous countries, including several Caribbean nations, routinely conduct referendums alongside national elections, recognising both the cost efficiency and democratic value of such exercises. The actual “complication” appears to be his reluctance to face the electorate’s direct verdict on this crucial issue and his own stewardship of the sector,” the Stabroek News columnist said.

The Survey

Ram in a recent column ‘Every Man, Woman and Child Must Become Oil Minded’ published by Stabroek News spoke of a survey conducted between September 20 and October 4, 2024 by Ram and McRae, using the Google Forms platform and attracted 135 responses from a diverse group of respondents including professionals, academics, students and citizens. According to the accountant, the survey most Guyanese want the oil sector to be managed by independent experts.

However, Jagdeo sought to dismiss the survey’s authenticity.  However, Ram made it clear that surveys are globally done using Google Forms. He said the survey was distributed to all of the leading members of the political parties and private sector organizations across the country, the PPP/C included of which the VP is a long serving member, and has been General Secretary for quite some time.

Therefore, “if the results are “suspect” one must ask why his party and supporters, who received direct invitations, chose not to participate and offer opposing views,” the Chartered Accountant stated.

Furthermore, “Mr. Freddie Kissoon’s critique in the state-owned media reveals mistaken facts relevant to his academic training and fundamental misunderstandings about research methodology. He confuses basic facts, citing wrong numbers and mischaracterising the nature of the initiative. A survey serves different purposes from a poll – it gathers detailed information and insights about specific issues rather than predicting population-wide views.”

Ram explained that the study was “explicitly designed as a consultative survey seeking informed stakeholder feedback about particular aspects of the Petroleum Agreement. The valuable responses received, including a detailed technical analysis of contract provisions, demonstrate the success of this approach.”

He said that the reactions from officials indicate significant public concern over the Agreement’s terms, which cannot be ignored or dismissed through procedural arguments or methodological critiques.

“Their [government] resistance to democratic consultation raises the profound question of whether they truly serve the interests of the Guyanese people or other, less public interests,” he added.

(Jagdeo looking for excuses to downplay calls for referendum to renegotiate oil contract)

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• Chris Ram, findings, Jagdeo, referendum, survey

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