PPP/C says it’s a shame APNU pulled out of NCN debates

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) said it is a shame that the A Partnership For National Unity (APNU) has pulled out of the ongoing national debate on corruption being hosted by the National Communications Network (NCN).

In a statement, the PPP/C said the APNU’s confirmation that they will not participate further in the ongoing public debates on corruption is an admission that their charges of corruption have been unfounded.
“APNU in a desperate effort to save face has issued a press statement which is merely an attempt to distract from their withdrawal of participation in the ongoing debates organised by the National Communications Network where apart from political parties, professionals and members of the private sector are involved,” the PPP/ C said.
The ruling party further stated that the APNU’s attempt to hide from these public debates exposes them as intellectually incapable and impotent, and confirms that they are only comfortable with their whisper campaigns away from public scrutiny where blatant lies are promulgated to slander, incite and create ethnic insecurities and hate towards the government.
“It is the very APNU which complained about lack of access to NCN and here it is they are being provided with unadulterated access to expose all their allegations of corruption in a forum which only serves to promote transparency and advance our democracy.
“However, rather than embracing such an opportunity, they are making all manner of excuses to hide from being accountable to the people as it is clear that they have no evidence of corruption.”
The PPP/ C said it will continue to participate in this debate series and commends the other stakeholders, including the other opposition party, which have all been participating in this process that not only provides information to the public, but also encourages their participation.
The APNU on Monday said that its reason for pulling out from the debate series is because most of the topics suggested by its leader were ignored by the organisers.
Party member Lurlene Nestor said the APNU has taken note of statements made in relation to the party’s non-participation in the debates and does not agree with the comments made. Nestor said: “At a nationally televised debate on NCN, Channel 11 last night (Sunday) August 26, certain statements were made by government ministers, who had the tendency to cast APNU Members of Parliament in a bad light, and expose them to public ridicule,” and this is not good for the coalition.
According to her, APNU leader David Granger had suggested several important topics for discussion. These include: the University of Guyana, Linden security, river and road infrastructure, local government and municipalities, the Georgetown Nursing School, the appointment of diplomats in Guyana’s Foreign Service, the Guyana Police Force, the establishment of a tripartite budget committee, the appointment of judges in Guyana’s judiciary, social protection for vulnerable citizens and collective bargaining in the public sector.
According to Nestor, NCN, however, decided to locate all of the issues within a random framework of corruption. “After the first series of debates in which Mr Carl Greenidge represented the APNU, it became clear to us that the entire format was flawed. This, in addition to other issues, which we subsequently raised with NCN, informed a decision by the leadership council of APNU not to participate in these debates.” The APNU said despite this, it is prepared to debate on any issue as it relates to national development.
The Alliance For Change (AFC) has made efforts to participate in the debates and the party has sent a representative to each of the last two.