National Unity talks will go “nowhere” with Nagamootoo- PPP

Last Updated on Friday, 11 September 2015, 1:12 by GxMedia

The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) on Thursday warned that National Unity talks with the government would go “nowhere” if the administration’s lead negotiator is Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo.

“The PPP wishes to state that if such a move is part and parcel of the so-called “fresh approach” by the APNU+AFC then it is clearly a non-starter and will end up dead in the water.

Knowing the dim view the PPP holds of Moses Nagamootoo, the APNU+AFC by insisting that he is their ‘best man’ who will head its team must know that that initiative will go nowhere,” said the PPP in a statement.

The PPP made known its position one day after Governance Minister, Raphael Trotman confirmed that Nagamootoo was the best man to lead the government’s team. Other members include Vice Presidents Khemraj Ramjattan and Carl Greenidge, Attorney General Basil Williams, Minister of State Joseph Harmon and Trotman.

The opposition PPP charged that the A Partnership for National Unity+ Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition government has already set up the National Unity talks to fail by  making the Prime Minister the team leader. “Thus, by pushing Nagamootoo center-stage it is now pellucidly clear that the Coalition objective is not to have any talks at all but to put the PPP/C on the defensive and to project the Party as refusing to engage in talks with the government. The entire affair therefore smacks of a political gimmick,” said the party that narrowly lost the May 11, 2015 general elections and holds a one-seat minority in the 65-seat National Assembly.

The Prime Minister first made known his appointment on Saturday, September 5 at an inaugural outreach community meeting at his home village of Whim, Corentyne. There he told the estimated 500 attendees that the PPP could not be left out of the governance of Guyana as that party has won seven of the 10 regions.

But the PPP believes that the government is preaching National Unity “in furtherance of a pre-electoral commitment made to certain external forces by Mr. Nagamootoo on behalf of the APNU+AFC.

“Moreover, since this appears to be acalculated move by the APNU+AFC to boost the sagging image of the AFC it is doubtful that such a move will gain any traction and is therefore bound to backfire,” the PPP added,

The PPP believes that the Nagamootoo-led National Unity posture by government is “an attempt by the Coalition to throw dust in the eyes of the Guyanese people and at the same timepushing a commitment to fulfill a self serving pre-electoral promise made to external forces.”