The We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party today accused the APNU of teaming up with its “adversary” – the People’s Progressive Party, to lock out the largest opposition bloc in the country from Regional positions and committees.
Opposition Chief Whip and WIN Member of Parliament, Tabitha Sarabo-Halley, said the situation raises legitimate concerns about temporary political alignment to contain emerging political forces.
At a press conference today, MP Sarabo-Halley said in Regions where the WIN party holds a decisive or majority support, coordinated voting by the PPP/C and APNU has prevented the party from securing leadership positions.
In Region 4, the PPP/C Candidate Clemsford Belgrave received 18 votes to win the chairmanship, while the APNU nominee received 8 votes, although it holds 9 seats. According to Sarabo-Halley, WIN abstained in recognition of earlier alignments in Regions 8 and 10.
According to the WIN MP, in Regions 8 and 10, voting behavior demonstrated cooperation between the PPP/C and APNU in ways that effectively excluded WIN from structural leadership roles.
“Where WIN’s electoral strength should have translated into institutional leadership, cross-party coordination ensured that it did not. APNU chose to tactically align with the PPP. Across multiple regions, voting data suggests situational alignment that prevented WIN from translating electoral support into leadership control,” MP Sarabo-Halley said.
She said to compound the situation, in Regions 3, 4, and 5, WIN was again excluded from “structural influence.”
It was explained that in Region 3, WIN Councillor Renee Rodrigues submitted written correspondence within 15 days of swearing-in requesting committee placement, and though the letter was acknowledged by the Chairman, WIN was excluded from all of the committees.
In Region 4, the situation was no different, and though a written request was made for reconstitution on the basis of fairness and proportional representation, no corrective action has been taken to date.
According to MP Sarabo-Halley, the party was also excluded from committees at the level of the Region in Region 5.
She said in Region 10, where WIN secured 9 seats in an 18-member council, APNU has sided with the PPP/C to prevent WIN from gaining the position of Chair. Four months later, the region remains without a Regional Chairman due to a gridlock between WIN and APNU.
“While it is clear that administrative authority to reconvene lies with the Regional Executive Officer we are well aware that the REO will have to be instructed on how and when to move on this issue. APNU’s short sightedness preferred to leave Region 10 without the leadership that the people voted for preferring instead to rest the faith of Region 10 and Linden squarely in the hands of the PPP. The end result is: PPP and APNU councillors were placed on committees, and WIN councillors were excluded,” MP Sarabo-Halley said.
She said what Guyana is witnessing is not proportional representation, but structural exclusion.
MP Sarabo-Halley said at the national level, WIN as the main opposition party in the National Assembly, offered APNU six shadow Ministry positions in the spirit of cooperation. However, the APNU wanted eight based on a proportionality formula.
She said when the demand was not met, the APNU accused it of being a bully.
“Let us be clear: Exercising constitutional authority is not bullying. Maintaining institutional integrity is not aggression and respecting the mandate given by the electorate is not exclusion. At the regional level, proportionality is being denied to WIN but at the parliamentary level, proportionality is being demanded from WIN. That contradiction speaks for itself. Taken together what has become obvious is that there was coordinated voting in regional leadership elections between the APNU and PPP,” MP Sarabo-Halley said.
She said WIN has been excluded from Regional Committees despite proportional norms and now the APNU is attempting to pressure parliamentary concessions through linkage to unresolved Regional matters.
MP Sarabo-Halley made it clear that the WIN party will not assist in diminishing the mandate of the people, and will continue to represent the people.
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