The Working People’s Alliance which is one of the parties that make up A Partnership for National Unity wants the Opposition parties to step up their protest against the prorogation of parliament but the party is concerned about the Alliance For Change staying away from many of the protest actions.
In a strongly worded statement issued on Saturday morning, the WPA expressed concern over the AFC’s “conspicuous” absence.
“The AFC, the Opposition’s junior partner that initiated the No-Confidence Motion which precipitated the prorogation move by the Government to thwart the vote for early elections, has been so far conspicuously absent from the firing line, except for a guest appearance’ at the APNU rally of November 14. Momentum is being lost and reaction to the Government’s derailing of the No-Confidence Motion appears to be` protest in slow motion”, the WPA statement said.
The Alliance For Change has come under some criticism on social media for not being supportive enough of the APNU’s protest actions.
When the APNU hosted the People’s Rally against the Prorogation of Parliament, the AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan was absent. He said he did not want to attend since that could have provided “PPP propagandists” to attack him and link him to the APNU. The APNU holds 26 seats in the National Assembly. The AFC has 7.
According to the WPA, when it comes to the protests against the prorogation of parliament, there is need for a game plan to effectively tackle the issue. It said “what is not emerging is a definitive Game Plan, a meaningful Action Plan for implementing decisions relating thereto, and a clear conceptualization of the End Game that signals victory for the people and defeat for the usurpers of power.”
The party there is urgent need for the opposition to communicate to the Guyanese public, an Action Plan or Road Map for making the Government so uncomfortable that it would be forced to relent and reconvene Parliament any time soon.
The statement added that “there had been talk of taking the struggle to every city, town and village, but so far agitation has been confined to inner Georgetown. The ongoing and incomplete engagements with the labour unions, the private sector and civil society need to be speeded up and have not so far yielded practical commitments to widen the movement of resistance.”
“Most importantly, if after a few weeks’ activity of picketing, consultations and press releases have elapsed, and the Government remains obdurate and entrenched, then the next and more intensive phase of the Action Plan should include marches and mass mobilization so as to prevent the supremacy of Parliament being trampled under the deadening boots of Executive paramountcy”, it added.
President Donald Ramotar has indicated that he is open to talks with the Opposition parties on the way forward. However, the Opposition parties have indicated that they do not intend to have any discussions with the government outside of the parliament. There have been calls locally and internationally for the President to lift his suspension of the parliament.
Filed: 29th November, 2014
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