Latest update January 13th, 2025 3:10 AM
Latest News
- Oil deal requires Govt. to formally write Exxon to request renegotiation – Dr. Adams
- Govt. eyeing another US$1.5B loan from US EXIM Bank
- Israeli siege of north Gaza leaves 5,000 dead, missing after 100 days
- More traffic cops using bodycams after Hicken’s warning
- Second terminal for CJIA on govt’s 2025 agenda
‘Guyana not shackled to Exxon oil deal forever’ – Professor Clive Thomas
…all contracts are subject to change
Professor Clive Thomas (Guyana not shackled to Exxon oil deal forever’) (Guyana not shackled)
Kaieteur News-The Petroleum Sharing Agreement (PSA) signed between Guyana and ExxonMobil in 2016 does not bind the country forever, Executive Member of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) Professor Dr. Clive Thomas told reporters on Monday.
Speaking at the party’s weekly press conference, Dr. Thomas said that globally, all contracts are recognized to be subject to the possibility of change. He said the WPA does not agree with the government’s posture as it relates to the renegotiation of the contract and what it terms anti-democratic behaviour.
The party believes “that the government is trying to normalize anti-democratic behaviour in the way in which it governs the country.”
“There can be no forever binding for our contracts… the last attempt to do that historically has been through the indentured system and more recently and for more prominence the slavery system of bondage,” said Dr. Thomas who noted that “You can’t tie through a contract, parties to be forever bounded to the terms of the contract… (in fact) every contract that is recognized in every country of the world is universally subject to the possibility of change.”
Dr. Thomas told reporters that the government’s position on the holding of a referendum on the subject of the renegotiation of the oil contract is an insult to Guyanese “because what we are trying to do is to exercise the democratic aspect of every single contract that it cannot bind people forever into eternity it has to be subject to change as long as the parties agree.”
Further, the WPA executive member said the government’s stance as articulated by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo is “his way to try to make a defense for Exxon and we will think that the government has other interests to protect…”
Kaieteur News reported on November 18 that the WPA believes a referendum on the 2016 oil contract is crucial to any future negotiations the Government of Guyana is likely to have with U.S. oil giant, ExxonMobil.
Co-leader Dr. David Hinds told reporters on Monday that it would not hurt to have Guyanese engaged in public discussion about the 2016 oil deal.
Dr. Hinds referenced statements made by Attorney General Anil Nandlall which said that a referendum on the lopsided oil contract would be a waste of time. However, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo disagreed with Nandlall saying that the Attorney General spoke in his personal capacity and not as a government official.
Jagdeo said while there might well be issues regarding bringing ExxonMobil to the table even with a successful referendum, he would prefer to deal with the matter after next year’s general and regional elections.
A referendum is a general vote by the electorate on a single political question that has been referred to them for a direct decision.
“While that contention is true, an affirmative referendum vote would be a potent bi-partisan, national tool in the hands of government as it engages Exxon. To cite Exxon’s potential inflexibility in the face of a formal national demand as a reason for rejecting the referendum is akin to throwing in the towel before the game starts,” Dr. Hinds said.
The WPA reiterated its support for the referendum as part of a package that includes “the issues of legal, structured Cash Transfers and Power Sharing/Shared Governance.”
The WPA co-leader explained that the party did not provide much commentary on the oil contract because, “it was not part of the decision-making in 2016 and partly because we feel that the renegotiation of the contract should not be discussed in isolation from the distribution of the proceeds that come from it.”
The party holds the view that “substantive democracy should mean that all those who are affected by national decisions should participate in the decision-making.”
(‘Guyana not shackled to Exxon oil deal forever’)
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Social media reporting is a double-edged sword
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- Social media has undoubtedly changed how we share and receive information. It has made... more
Clarifying misconceptions about the Panama Canal
Sir Ronald Sanders (Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the US and the OAS) By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News–... more
Weekend Cartoon
