For some, the public embarrassment that follows the issuance of a bland joint statement—nearly a week after meeting—would have been a major deterrence. That alone could have weakened hopes of amicably settling matters of mutual concern and killed dreams of overall harmony in the opposition. However, leaders of We Invest In Nationhood (WIN) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) have somehow been able to maintain optimism that “we will get it right.”
Yesterday, WIN and APNU issued a joint statement that basically reflected what was said by the two leaders, Azruddin Mohamed and Aubrey Norton during separate interviews with the media immediately after last Monday’s meeting.
The meeting was aimed at addressing matters of mutual concern and exploring prospects for greater political cooperation in the interest of the people of Guyana.
Yesterday’s statement repeated that the meeting was cordial and that there has been no final decision on the substantive matters discussed. The statement was not specific about matters discussed but noted that the meeting was initially called to address matters relating to the Guyana Elections Commission, particularly the appointment of commissioners and the role of electoral scrutineers; the ongoing impasse affecting the operation of the Region 10 Regional Democratic Council; and nominations to the Local Government Commission. The statement noted that WIN will consult its leadership and membership on whether to appoint a three-member team to work alongside a three-member APNU team in developing guidelines for engagement. APNU, meanwhile, will consult with the other parties in its coalition before selecting its representatives.
The joint statement, amounted to just over 300 words, 318 to be exact. Of course, a word count is no reliable measure to judge the weight of a statement, but the statement was as strong as it was tall.
Guyana Standard reached out to several rank-and-file members of WIN and APNU. The questions were essentially the same. Why did it take so long to produce a joint statement that basically revealed no new information? Does this bode well for continued relations and opposition unity? There were a few follow-ups to those substantive questions.
Mohamed came across unbothered by the delay to put out a statement. Speaking to the Guyana Standard, he pointed to his ongoing plight of “political victimization”. He said that two of the days that elapsed can be attributed to his arrest and a scheduled visit he had to Port Kaituma.
“As a journalist, you must be aware that I am constantly under attack. You must have seen that I was arrested the day after the meeting. I spent some time in custody. Then I had to go Port Kaituma, that alone account for two of the days that passed.”
Guyana Standard queried as to whether his attention was needed for every line of the statement. The Opposition Leader responded that the General Secretaries of the two parties were in constant communication. He said there might have been “some kinks, some issues that had to be sorted.” Asked to speak to some of the “kinks” Mohamed declined but repeated, “they were supposed to be working together but there were some kinks.”
Speaking about his good-fate approach, Mohamed pointed to the fact that WIN has facilitated a seat at the table for Forward Guyana Movement (FGM). He said, “we have found a way to work together and even though Forward Guyana has one seat, we have made space for them.”
Guyana Standard asked what is the problem that has prevented WIN from making similar space for the APNU, Mohamed insisted “there is no problem, this is the first consultation. There will be many other consultations coming down the line.”
Persons familiar with the internal affairs of both parties indicated that in addition to the strain that comes from APNU holding on to GECOM spots, “there are several personality clashes and while Azruddin himself might not have personal grievances, people close to him, people he listens to, got their own quarrel with people from APNU.”
Guyana Standard spoke to the General Secretary of APNU Sherwin Benjamin. Pointed to the fact that the public waited almost a week for a statement that said nothing more than what was initially stated, Benjamin retorted that the statement could have only captured what happed in the meeting. He then went on to speak about the need for guidelines to govern consultation, along the same line that was articulated by Norton when interviewed after the meeting.
Asked again why such a simple statement took several days, the politician said “the time obviously would suggest that there were several drafts, there was a back and forth. That can be the only explanation.”
He continued, “the (WIN) general secretary has a personal issue which I am not at liberty to disclose. Having sorted out her personal issue, we spoke this morning and an agreement was made.” Guyana Standard queried as to if that personal issue has to do with any quarrel with him, Benjamin responded in the negative. He then said, “It’s a family issue.”
Further, Benjamin said, “Let me be clear, Odessa and I have mutual love and respect for each other…we have an extremely good relationship. Odessa is a loving person. We can talk for hours; we agree on almost everything. But there are external forces, having said all I said, we spoke this morning, there was agreement and a statement was dispatched.”
When it comes to optimism for good will moving forward, Benjamin exuded the most. He said, “In any political agreement such as this, there is going to be teething problems. In some instances, some may value substance over form and vice versa…Parties are agreeable that we are better together than separate, therefore it is just about time for the major players, or the players behind the major players, to understand that it is better to put petty differences aside for the greater good.” He continued, “The Guyanese people want participatory democracy…I believe we are going to get there. There will be issues to iron out and we will iron it out. We take this very seriously.”
Asked if he was fazed by the chatter on social media relating to the statement and its delay, Benjamin said, “Guyanese are anxious but we have new players and we have to get to understand the different styles… we are going to learn about each other and understand what not to do, what not to say and we will get to right eventually.”
