Shaky Cummingsburg Accord being undermined by APNU/PNC – Jagdeo

By Samuel Sukhnandan

Amid concerns that the Alliance For Change (AFC) has still not managed to get a fair share of governance in the coalition Administration, there is now new worry over the fact that AFC Ministers have been given lucrative Ministries to handle, something that is not sitting too well with members of the People’s National Congress (PNC), the largest party within the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU).
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo drew this conclusion while addressing a media conference at his Church Street, Georgetown office on Thursday, when he highlighted that the move taken by President David Granger to strip Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman of responsibility for the oil and gas sector was not the first decision that proved that the AFC Ministers’ responsibilities were slowly being taken away from them.
But more so, Jagdeo hinted that this could undermine the Cummingsburg Accord,

the sweetheart deal that was signed between the AFC and APNU when they agreed to form a coalition to contest the 2015 General Election in Guyana. However, as of recent, the issue regarding this Accord has been discussed more widely and there have been calls within the AFC’s executive and central committee to have the agreement revised as soon as possible.
Speaking about Trotman’s announcement that in a few months’ time, he would no longer have responsibility for the oil and gas sector, one of the largest natural resources sector Guyana is about to have, Jagdeo said, “I say he was stripped of his responsibility, because no matter how many press releases they issue, can they deny the fact that he was stripped? … How stupid do they think we are? They

took it away from him.”
The Opposition Leader said he did not believe the “silly excuse” given by Trotman, whereby he has claimed that he recommended to President Granger that the Department of Energy be established without having it placed under his watch. “He was recommending the Department of Energy to be created within his Ministry and with him being the Minister. That is what he was recommending. Not that the Department be created in the Office of the President and him being stripped of the

ministerial responsibility,” Jagdeo posited.

Warning signs
Responsibility for the environment was first taken away from Trotman when a decision was made to establish the Department of Environment that is now housed in the Ministry of the Presidency.
According to the Opposition Leader, this came as no surprise to him, because he saw that moves were being made to implement certain major changes, but not just specific to Trotman’s perceived demotion. The first sign, he said, was when President Granger did not show up to deliver the feature address at the inaugural Oil and Gas Summit (GIPEX 2018). Instead, Trotman delivered the address and Minister Carl Greenidge also delivered remarks.
“That was a precursor. But before that, I had spoken to the media about an investigation and the conflict within APNU … that tensions would rise within their structure because I pointed out that a lot of people had taken information to Granger about Trotman, particularly AFC members,” he alleged.
Given the fact that the Government has said little about this issue, Jagdeo believes

that the Administration would “keep circling the wagons”. He said, “Trust me in circling the wagons, you would see for the next few days, they will talk up Trotman, they will say he is the greatest thing since ice-cream. They may give him a few more useless designations… something of that nature will manifest itself.”
A persistent Jagdeo told the press, however, “we need to know why he was removed. Is it because they found something or a lot of things that are adverse? My information is that they found quite a bit. They know quite a bit. And my information also is that the PNC people are saying that the AFC people making all the money, because they have lucrative Ministries. So it’s their turn now.”
Now that plans are being made for the Department of Energy to be placed under the Ministry of the Presidency that responsibility will now fall directly under Minister of State, Joseph Harmon. But this is not the first move made by President Granger to lessen the responsibility of AFC Ministers.

Undermining AFC Ministers
In fact, the first move he made was directed at the Working People’s Alliance

(WPA), whereby its leader, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine was removed as Education Minister and appointed Minister responsible for Public Service. That Ministry again falls under the direct responsibility of the Ministry of the Presidency, with Harmon as the head.
Another AFC executive, Minister Cathy Hughes was first appointed as Minister of Tourism in 2015 when the coalition Government first took office. Her stint as Tourism Minister was short-lived, and she was reassigned a relatively unknown ministry which has fewer responsibilities, the Public Telecommunications Ministry. The Tourism Ministry now falls under another AFC executive and son-in-law of the President, Dominic Gaskin, who also is in charge of the Business Ministry, a lesser known ministry.
Only recently, a decision was taken by Government to also transfer the responsibility of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and the sugar industry to the Special Purpose Unit (SPU) that has been set up under the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL). NICIL falls under the Finance Ministry, which is headed by Winston Jordan. One can only conclude that another AFC Minister, Noel Holder has also been stripped of his responsibility of the sugar sector.
Although AFC’s Khemraj Ramjattan has responsibility for national security, the Department of Citizenship was created for PNC member Winston Felix who heads that department.
At present, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, also an AFC member, performs a ceremonial role as a senior Government functionary. His major responsibility is for the public information sector. Entities such as the State-owned Guyana Chronicle newspaper, the National Communications Network, and the Department of Public Information, formerly the Government Information Agency, fall under his charge.