Executive Member of the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) and former Chief Whip thereof, Gail Teixeira, on Wednesday said that before Guyana can move to discussion on a new governance model to reflect inclusivity, there first needs to be a transparent and democratic transition of Government.
Her statement comes as social commentators increase the narrative of inclusive governance in recent days, even as Guyana continues to be in gridlock regarding the results of the March 2 General and Regional Elections, where there have been “deliberate” efforts by the caretaker APNU/AFC Coalition to block a recount of the contentious Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) votes after the tabulation process was marred with controversy and “credible evidence” of fraud at the hand of Returning Officer (RO) Clairmont Mingo.
According to Teixeira in a letter to the editor on Wednesday, “Guyana needs stakeholders in the electoral process, civil society representatives and ordinary Guyanese citizens, among others, to be a part of the process of addressing a new governance model for sustained progress and development of our country; not the divvying up of the spoils to a few who feel they have been born with some personal entitlement. But first we must ensure that there is a transparent and democratic transition of government.”
She noted that these continued commentaries over the past few weeks are coming from “self-styled defenders of good governance”, whom she believes have not only been vocal but “undeniably opportunistic” in their calls for executive power-sharing.
As an Executive Member of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Teixeira questioned whether these same persons would have been calling for executive power-sharing had the APNU/AFC Coalition won the recent elections, especially since they quite know what had happened when the Coalition took office in May 2015.
She pointed to 2011 when APNU and AFC, as combined opposition parties, held a one seat majority and controlled the Legislature. Teixeira, who was the Government Chief Whip in that Parliament, noted that Guyanese were witnesses to the APNU/AFC’s approach of ‘total control’ and the flexing of their proverbial muscles regardless of the consequences to the PPP/Civic’s national development agenda.
On this note, the PPP Executive surmised that one objective to this increased narrative of power-sharing is to shift the focus from the critically important issue at hand – a transition of government that is based on free, fair, transparent and credible declaration of results from the elections held more than three weeks ago.
Moreover, Teixeira pointed out that another reason behind this heightened call for executive power-sharing seems to be premised on ethnic insecurity.
The former Opposition Chief Whip outlined that the history of the PPP, both in and out of office, has been one that never closed the door to inclusive governance and constitutional reform.
In fact, she noted, the PPP has worked at the grassroots level to broaden its support base in an effort to ensure greater inclusivity.
