Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo

Cummingsburg Accord violations

 …claimed “resolution” might just be “political gesture” – Jeffrey

 As an apparent battle for power continues in the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition with more and more trouble brewing, a devastating breakup is possibly underway.

Recent developments including the possibility of contesting the Local Government Elections (LGE) as separate entities have only fuelled widespread speculation of an imminent split in the six-party coalition Government.

Conceding the existence of disputes within the coalition was Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, who, during a public meeting in Whim on Saturday, conceded that only during the past few days, the coalition had succeeded in “working out their differences”.

Political commentator Dr Henry Jeffery

Nagamootoo did not elaborate on the aforementioned “differences” nor did he divulge any details surrounding the “resolution” of those differences. Efforts to contact the Prime Minister on Sunday to clarify these lacunae proved futile.

In the wake of the stunning comments, political commentator Dr Henry Jeffery questioned if the admission was just a political gesture to provide assurance to supporters of the coalition.

In spite of consistent denials by some members of the AFC, the parties have clearly been in breach of the much touted “Cummingsburg Accord”, notably in favour of the People’s National Congress (PNC)-led APNU.

Specifically, contrary to the Accord, Nagamootoo does not chair Cabinet, nor is he in charge of domestic national affairs. In fact, the powers he was promised have all been diminished to oversight of the information sector of the state media – an authority he now has been accused of abusing. The Accord also stated that the Prime Minister would recommend ministerial appointments and provide organisational structures for Ministries – for the approval of the President and the appointment of Heads of Agencies and non-constitutional commissions. It is apparent that he was never involved in none of these activities.

Aside from the violations of the Accord, Jeffery believes that difficulties could be arising from various other areas – which may be greater contributing factors to a possible rift between the two political groupings.

“The difference people have been talking about is essentially the differences around the issue of the Cummingsburg Accord. People are saying that the Accord says one thing and that they have not carried out the Accord according to what was stated. Time has moved on that they are now in Government and they can overcome that. But they are political parties looking at the future. Therefore, there is always the possibility of other problems arising. The important thing is not the problem that has risen but the mechanism of solving these problems,” he said.

Already, both parties are contemplating the idea of contesting LGE as separate entities – a move which could, according to analysts, spell death for the coalition.

“If they see themselves as a group together in the long term, then they will go to these elections and contest together. However, if they do not, then they would be contesting the upcoming elections in the regions separately,” Jeffery had told Guyana Times in a recent interview.

Moreover, the commentator was unsure that the coalition was doing enough to resolve the differences and if it were, it was doing an abysmal job of keeping the public informed of such critical matters.

“Mr Nagamootoo has said so, but I am not aware of any meetings they’ve had or any discussions they’ve had between the parties. He said so, but I am not certain what context he’s speaking…They say they resolved it, but they seem to be doing it in secret. It is possible that they would have done so…but then again, it might just be Moses saying so at Whim. So you don’t know really…They are not releasing information about these things. Ok, you had a meeting? Where was the meeting held? What came out? Because it’s their supporters that are concerned and they should say a meeting was held and put out a press conference,” he said, explaining that it was too confusing to form a rational assessment of the situation.

Former Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarran had also predicted danger ahead for the coalition given the violations of the Cummingsburg Accord and alleged internal pressure on President David Granger from the PNC arm of the alliance.

Ramkarran recognised that the Accord has been blatantly breached and if it were not addressed quickly and appropriately, the parties could expect to lose support, particularly the AFC.

Ramon Gaskin, another political commentator, had indicated that it indeed would appear that all was not well in the new Government’s camp.

Meetings

Meanwhile, AFC General Secretary David Patterson, who is also now Public Infrastructure Minister, had disclosed that meetings were being facilitated to ensure the tenets of the Cummingsburg Accord were implemented accordingly. A committee was established to deal with the issues between the parties.

Chairman of the committee, former President of the Guyana Bar Association, Ronald Burch-Smith, is tasked with the responsibility of ironing out any issue which cannot be settled by the two parties. AFC Chairman Nigel Hughes also plays an integral role in the committee. Efforts to contact both for details on these issues also proved futile.