The Leader of the Opposition, Azruddin Mohamed together with a delegation from We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) today met with a delegation from A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), headed by its Chairman, Aubrey Norton.

The meeting took place at the Brandsville Suites, where it was proposed that a framework should be established to facilitate further discussions on issues of mutual interest.

Exiting the more than one-hour long meeting, both sides appeared tight lipped on the issues discussed, with each side indicating that a joint statement would be issued.

WIN – the leading parliamentary opposition party in the country – invited APNU to the meeting last week to discuss the nominees for the Local Government Commission, in addition to the status of the three opposition-nominated Elections Commissioners, the scrutineers involved in the registration process at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), and the election of the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Regional Democratic Council of Region 10.

According to the Opposition Leader, none of those issues was discussed during the meeting.

“We had cordial discussions. We will be issuing a joint statement later today. We had no discussion on the way forward with the Local Government Commission and GECOM issue. And so, we will be issuing a joint statement, [and] dialogue will continue, and as I have said the meeting was well done,” the Opposition Leader said.

Questioned as to why the issues regarding the Constitutional commissions were not discussed, Mr. Mohamed explained that the parties agreed to have further discussions at the level of their parties before returning to the negotiating table.

According to the Opposition Leader, the joint statement would include information on a proposed Terms of Reference (ToR) for future meetings, and possibly a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

Pressed by reporters for more details, WIN Member of Parliament Odessa Primus said lack of discussion on the issues initially raised by both sides is not an indication that there wasn’t meaning dialogue.

“Well, we may not have but that does not mean that we have not had meaningful discussions on other things, and that is why again I would reiterate the fact that the joint statement would reflect what was discussed,” MP Primus said.

Chairman of the APNU and PNCR Leader, Aubrey Norton also told reporters that the two sides agreed to await the release of a joint statement. He said in principle, however, they agreed to work out a framework for future discussions.

“I know that in principle, we have agreed that we will work out a clear approach to moving forward. I don’t want to get into too much details because we agreed in principle that the two parties will issue a joint press statement on the outcome. I thought the discussions were cordial. We didn’t get into the issues that were there because we want a kind of a framework to operate on and moving forward we will deal with that,” Mr. Norton said.

He said a framework is necessary to guide the discussions.

MP David Hinds, who formed part of the APNU delegation, said the APNU is treating the meeting with a high degree of importance.

“We are taking this issue very seriously. We believe that as representatives of the people, we should treat this matter very seriously. So, we want to impress that, we came to this meeting with a serious intent, and in as so far as we are going to pursue future engagements, they are going to be treated seriously,” Dr Hinds said.

The meeting comes days after the APNU registered concerns that its nominees for the Local Government Commission were not included in the list of nominees submitted by the Leader of the Opposition to President Irfaan Ali.

It was against that background that WIN proposed to have a meeting on the issue, but to also discuss other issues including the impasse at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

WIN’s delegation at today’s meeting was made up of the Opposition Leader, the Opposition Chief Whip Tabitha Sarabo-Halley; MP Odessa Primus, MP Natasha Singh, MP Vishnu Panday and MP Duarte Hetsberger.

APNU was represented by its leader, Aubrey Norton, MP Ganesh Mahipaul, MP Dexter Todd, MP Coretta McDonald, MP David Hinds, PNCR General Secretary Sherwin Benjamin, Attorney-at-Law Ronald Daniels and APNU Regional Councillor Shanika Haynes.

A date for the next meeting has not been set.

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