By Jomo Paul
[www.inewsguyana.com] – President David Granger says that the Cummingsburg Accord is being re-examined by officials from A Partnership For National Unity (APNU) and Alliance For Change (AFC) with the aim of achieving optimal operation at the level of governance.
Granger made the statement against the backdrop of several deviations that the APNU+AFC government has made as it relates to the adherence of the accord.
Questions have been raised about the deviations, including the APNU having two Vice Presidents when the Accord states “in the construct of a new government the APNU will be allocated one Vice President and AFC two Vice Presidents.”
Another concern is the fact that the President chaired the last Cabinet meeting when that should have been done by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo as stipulated in the Cummingsburg accord. The APNU+AFC signed this accord on February 14 when they decided to join forces.
When questioned by iNews on Wednesday, President Granger stated that there are certain aspects of the Cummingsburg accord which are currently being examined.
“To the extent that some things are in collision with the constitution they will await constitutional change…we cannot be expected to do unconstitutional things,” said President Granger.
In spite of these deviations from the political contract, President Granger says that the relationship between the APNU and AFC has not been damaged and there is no “conflict.”
Sorry for you Veronica, that’s wishful thinking. Granger is now in the driving seat of political power which he craved for a long time and to dilute his authority, would be too bitter a medicine for him swallow. The government’s side of the negotiating team had among them lawyers and other experts and they knew all along what they were promising couldn’t be delivered. Those promises are not worth the paper they are written on….along with the signatures.
Sounds more like your wish {prayer] than opinion [prediction].
This is wrong on so many levels. Suffice to say Moses is not the AFC so, stop blaming and berating him for your pet peeves
I am disappointed to hear about this “revisiting the Cummingsburg Accord” rather than doing what you agreed to in the first instance, bringing the accord into reality. It just makes this Accord seems unconstitutional in the first place or in addition something that can change to satisfy your ‘ambitions’. should any change occur, i do hope its to make improvements and all are in agreement for the betterment of this country.
”we cannot be expected to do unconstitutional things,” said President Granger.
Mr Granger knew this all along but totally ignored it just to get AFC on board
Former President Lincoln is quoted as saying that “nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power”.
Aristophanes, in his piece of literature titled “The Knights” had argued that “to win people, always cook them something savory that pleases them”.
These are two pieces copied from today’s (11/16/15) Times editorial
Well, both quotes are applicable to Granger. He sweet talked the AFC and made all kinds of promises but when the time comes to honour those promises, he is now saying ”we cannot be expected to do unconstitutional things”. The test of his character, now that he has the power he craved when he was in opposition.
Changing the constitution will need two thirds majority votes in parliament. Will the PPP/C support that? Wishful thing GRANGER.
Moses and Ramjattan better look out as they are now in danger of being sidelined. Just wait and see. The writing is on the wall.
Emile are you saying they are dumb since their lawyers should have known whats constitutional and whats not?
Emile this has nothing to do with the constitution..
Your PNC does not care about the constitution.
If they had they would have never cut the budget that was constitutional.
When they combined in the 10th parliament they trampled on the constitution.\
Emile their stated goal was to have PPP removed from office hook or crook.
Well its looking more like crook now.
The so called “Cummingsburg Accord” (CA) was never about governance, it was about seeing the back of the PPP/C. The CA is as false as the manifesto that was put out by APNU/AFC, where there is also backtracking on promises made on VAT “significant increases in salaries etc etc. Anyway, by whatever means, the PPP/C seems to be out the way, so now Granger is really ready to talk to AFC, hence “CA being re-examined”. I am never a supporter of the PNC/APNU but credit must be given to Granger for what he did so far. The parties in Guyana that command significant support to win an election are: the PPP/C and the PNC and this is because of the legacies left by Jagan and Burnham respectively. Aside from the PNC the other Parties that make up the APNU (don’t even recall the names) cannot win a seat in Parliament on their own. The AFC do have some support but that dwindled to a significantly low level in 2015. The “victory” at the last polls was “won” solidly by PNC supporters and GECOM’s fraud. Even though still not enough to beat the PPP/C, the support base for PNC increased significantly this time around because of the young voters from all races. The old heads in the PNC and Granger knows this, so looking back the PNC did not actually need anyone. Nagamootoo, fighting his personal battle with the PPP, unashamedly climbed on the back of this support and saunters into the PM chair. Granger gave representatives from all those paper parties a Ministerial position etc etc. I give the defacto President big kudos for this. The boat must not be rocked too early. He is a good man, and I agree with him that its time to review the CA. The AFC is the junior player, maybe a non-player here, and must respect the decisions of Granger who enjoys tremendous support from a significant block of Guyanese voters.
The APNU+ AFC campaign with the motto. ” Time for Change”, but nothing changes only the Ministers and the name of the Ministries change. yesterday when I saw Minister Bulkan and his PS at the parliament square , I get so vex because I understand how come this guy is still the PS.. He should already be fired .When Arfan was appointed Minister of Housing in 2006, he hand pick this guy as his PS. As the PS , you are the accounting officer for the Ministry, so he was part of ALL the alleged skullduggery the APNU+ AFC was accusing the PPP/C that occur at the Ministry of Housing. Remember the 3 billion they were trying to get from GGMC. you have to get NEW people with integrity and Zero tolerance for corruption in all the Ministries MR. President. Time for real Change>
lol, my opinion from the start, it’s only a matter of time before naga is replaced by harmon and ramjattan by trotman
The fools will get the riding the deserve now
marriage of convenience fails almost every time..but in politics its bound to fail..Y?? grunger now get taste for power he so lust long now and will not give it up to nagamook..nagamook wanted to be counted and oh yes nagamook will be counted but counted out..nagamook and ramjhatmook will soon settle for pnc scraps at pnc table and have no say in any matter..
President Granger,
After 22.7 years of a secretive and unaccountable PPP in power, you guys and gals have to be aware that Guyanese are paying attention to everything you do or don’t do, say or don’t say now you are in power.
In short, you folks are constantly under the microscope and magnifying glass, not merely to find faults, but to ensure you do not slip into the shell the PPP created and vacated.
Now, when you guys and gals came up with your Cummingsburg Accord in February, you had to know what was constitutional and unconstitutional. You had lawyers from both teams. Folks voted for the coalition because of this Cummingsburg Accord, not because of the Constitution, which was one of the items targeted in the Accord for reform.
This talk about re-examination of the Accord, therefore, smacks of changing the game plan now that the goal of unseating the PPP was achieved. Agreeing to let the PM chair cabinet meetings is not unconstitutional, because Article 106 says you can delegate such an act if you are absent from the meeting. It never said you had to be absent from the country.
And did you know or approve of Joe Harmon using APNU’s letterhead to write a letter of invitation to the PPP to engage in inclusive governance, especially if that is interpreted to mean joining the coalition government?
Inclusive governance is in the Constitution, so why are you folks begging the PPP to engage in something it is aware of? And if the aim is to have the PPP join the coalition, what cabinet positions will be offered the PPP, given that it alone pulled in almost the same number of votes as the coalition? What will happen to the AFC, which helped make the coalition win possible?
Sir, many of us celebrate the coalition’s victory over the despicable PPP, but that celebration is being tempered by controversy over the chairing of the cabinet agreement; the perplexing manner in which your government went about making changes to the titles of ministers and their ministries’ without even giving voters a chance to get to know who they are and what their plans are, and discovering you cannot finance either because they were not legally recognized by Parliament for funding.
Now the AFC and APNU must revisit the Accord to change it after the fact?
I believe in second chances, and this not so smooth start for the coalition regime can be forgiven if it can be attributed to the novelty of the experience of starting up a coalition government, but be advised that because coalition governments are notorious for falling apart because of differences of opinion on policies and even inflated egos that clash, we are paying attention to violation of agreements, constitutional or not. So, as you revisit the Cummingsburg Accord, let us have a clean, fresh re-start. No more semblance of disagreement or marginalization. AND FOR OUR NATION’S SAKE, TALK WITH US!
LOVELY !!!!!!