Responding to claims by the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) of being shafted and sidelined by the major partner in the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) coalition, President David Granger on Wednesday said such an assertion was untrue as there was a fair partnership in the five-party unit.
Granger said the People’s National Congress (PNC)-led APNU has been an equal playing field for all of its partners since its establishment in 2011.
He was responding to claims made directly by the WPA that it felt side-lined by the actions of the coalition, which now sits in the seat of Government.
“We have not sidelined any party…I was very careful in 2015 to ensure that every party in the APNU is represented in the National Assembly and have positions.”
To this end, he said, Minister within the Labour Ministry, Keith Scott represents the National Front Alliance (NFA); Junior Finance Minister Jaipaul Sharma represents the Justice For All Party (JFAP); Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Minister Sydney Allicock represents the Guyana Action Party (GAP) and former Education Minister, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine represents the WPA.
“So there is no sidelining of any one of the parties and I had the option of making a selection after May 15. And I made my decision based on my commitment to inclusionary democracy and to ensure that all members of the partnership are all represented.”
Meanwhile, President Granger said he was disappointed that the WPA would take the business of the coalition to the public realm. He sought to assure that he ran a coalition, had never attacked any of the partners, had not expressed any concern or shown any reaction.
“I know where we are going; I know the importance of the coalition to social cohesion, inclusionary democracy and the future of this country.”
“I do not believe that the business of the coalition could be efficiently and effectively transacted in the media, and I don’t do business like that,” Granger told journalists on Wednesday.
On Monday, WPA Executive Members Tacuma Ogunseye and Dr David Hinds said there was no doubt the party, which may not have taken a substantial amount of votes to the table, was being sidelined.
Dr Hinds said the infraction has been so significant that executives were being hammered by party members and supporters both locally and abroad to cut ties with the grouping. He said, however, that was not a consideration at this time.
The party’s top brass is scheduled to meet with other members of APNU in July. Ogunseye said that the meeting would provide them with answers to give to its members on the way forward for the party.
“There, we will have a frank discussion with our partners and use the opportunity to assess the way in which they respond to our concerns and after that exercise, we will come back and decide on a line of action. But the approach of that meeting is to try to be objective as possible and try to enter the discourse with 100 per cent goodwill,” Ogunseye said.
He said too that the meeting could have a very serious impact on the future of relations between the WPA and its partners.
Hinds had said there were a range of issues in the WPA about how the party should treat Government.
“It ranges from those who feel that we should disengage with Government immediately…we are confident that if we should hold a members meeting, that there would be a strong opinion among our members for us to disengage from the Government.”
The meeting with Government, he added, will give leaders an idea of what to tell the members.
