GTUC calls for militant opposition; dodges questions on engaging opposition leader

Last Updated on Tuesday, 3 December 2024, 19:14 by Writer

The Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) on Tuesday demanded that the political opposition takes militant action to address a number of grave concerns such as the size of the voters list, bad management of oil revenues and poor governance by the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC).

“There is need for greater political militancy in this society. The role of the opposition is not only to make promises about what will happen should they enter into government,” GTUC General Secretary Lincoln Lewis told a news conference.

Mr Lewis declined to say exactly what forms militant action should be taken by the opposition to push for change, rather than merely participating in the National Assembly. “The opposition has to start taking action that is different rather than conforming t0 the Speaker and the government side,” he said. He said a number of trade unions were like “industrial arms” of the PPPC.

He said the Guyanese working class could not be content with the size of the GY$100,000 cash grant and apparent lack of transparency. Government has embarked a countrywide cash-grant registration/verification—with pictures and official identification documents—and disbursement of the money in some segments of the society.

Mr Lewis said “we are not getting the bang for our buck” after Guyana has so far earned more than US$5 billion from oil, and preparation of Guyanese for the oil sector-driven economy. The GTUC also backed calls for the cleansing of Guyana’s voters list now numbering 718,715, almost the size of Guyana’s 2012 census figure of 746,955.

“Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton must get up and assert himself and provide the society the required leadership,” he said, adding President Irfaan Ali must stand up as a leader and work with the opposition and others in the society, and “stop the outsourcing of the presidency” to Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo.

Dodgy

Repeatedly pressed on whether the GTUC had engaged the Opposition Leader, Mr Lewis and the GTUC President, Norris Witter declined to answer specifically. “It is very unethical to put all your positions in the public before you engage. If there are problems, you go behind closed doors and you deal with those. This is not about generating publicity. This is about developing a very cogent, structured plan of where we can work towards bringing about the change,” Mr Lewis said.

Mr Lewis, towards the end of the press conference, suggested that his stance was part of a negotiating strategy.

The Opposition Leader is on record as saying that he was not in favour of protests in a manner that could be used by the PPP to set up a conflict between Afro- and Indo-Guyanese which would be to his People’s National Congress Reform-led opposition coalition at the next general and regional elections.

At the start of the annual Labour Day march on May 1, 2024, there had been a conflict over whether Mr Norton should have been at the helm of the march. After a heated exchange of words, a compromise had been struck for the Opposition Leader to be among the group.

Others were the GTUC General Secretary, and PNCR members Attorneys-at-Law Darren Wade and Roysdale Forde.

The press conference was ended abruptly and journalists online were blocked from unmuting their microphones to ask more questions.