Parliamentarians express renewed optimism as training ends

– Canada, UK MPs commend local efforts

By Samuel Sukhnandan

Members of Parliament (MPs) ended a two-day seminar on Tuesday promising to build better partnerships, reduce rhetoric and put aside political agenda, with the aim of serving all Guyanese. This is according to Speaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman, who told the media that the seminar was successful, given the fact that several topics of importance were discussed.

Trotman believes that the seminar fulfilled the theme: “Managing through Partnership”. “The fact that such a seminar was held was a success,” the Speaker told a media operative as he responded to a question on concrete outcomes of the meeting.

Trotman stressed that all MPs displayed true camaraderie, despite party differences. He is hopeful that things will change at the next sitting and MPs will have better approaches to issues and topics raised for debate in Parliament.

Asked whether the seminar will help to advance tripartite talks, Trotman said he believes that it will help in several ways. According to him, the government has already written both opposition parties to recommence talks relating to several issues. This, he believes, is a good start and could lead towards achieving true partnership among all parties and 65 sitting members.

Representatives of government, the Alliance For Change (AFC) and the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) also agreed with Trotman’s comments and committed to working together.

Meanwhile, visiting MP from the United Kingdom, David Lammy lauded the actions of the MPs, and expressed hope that this continues.

He said, “I will leave feeling hopeful about the circumstances of progress here in Guyana.” He noted that while a minority government is new to Guyana, this has happened in many countries. The key in taking the nation’s work forward, he said, is partnership and once this is established among all MPs, progress will take its rightful place.

“I think that I heard across all parties, a strong sense of renewed commitment to the unity of Guyana and the need for greater efforts for social cohesion,” Lammy stated. According to him, the seminar reflected on new initiatives to support partnership. The UK politician also stated that the seminar focused especially on: How all MPs can work on issues, not always political, across parties so that there is less tension and be clearer about party views on any issue.

Truce

AFC executive member Moses Nagamootoo in his remarks said, “I wish to observe that nothing will do Guyana better at this historical point, acknowledging the will of the electorate,… [than for] there to be a “truce…” He stressed that it should be the collective will of all MPs to move Guyana forward, putting aside partisan politics and using Parliament as a forum to advance the national agenda. The seminar, he said, addressed issues of accountability, governance and relationship.

Government’s Chief Whip Gail Texeira lauded the effort of the Speaker to plan such a seminar with the support of the UNDP, among other agencies. The government MP also stressed that the seminar was held at the most suitable time after the tension that arose out of the recent budget debates.

“This seminar may have helped to break the ice, in what has emerged since the elections and it is still uncharted waters,” she said. The lessons learnt, Teixeira said, require maturity and wisdom from all MPs, which can lead to a path of development – a long road filled with many challenges.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative Khadija Musa also acknowledged the success of the training, and committed her organisation’s continued support to enhancing the work of the Guyana Parliament. The UNDP official believes that the 23 new MPs need more exposure to other parliaments and how they operate, to bring about effective outcomes in the local Parliament.

The other visiting MPs from the UK and Canada also commended the efforts of local parliamentarians and suggested that they bear in mind their duty to the nation, putting aside partisanship.

A document relating to the outcome of the seminar would be made available to the public in a matter of weeks. This will be done after the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and the UNDP would have reported on the forum.

The seminar, which saw the participation of all MPs, was officially launched last Sunday and was supported and funded by the UNDP, UNICEF, and the CPA.