OPINION: Patriotism should go beyond Venezuela issues

Last Updated on Sunday, 22 October 2023, 7:43 by Denis Chabrol

By Randolph Persaud (Randy), Professor Emeritus

Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton and others are doing the right thing to stand united with the PPP/C led Government of Guyana in our challenges with Venezuela. One must hope that Norton and company will not shy away from their patriotic duty once the Venezuelans come to their senses and begin to conduct themselves according to the language and spirit of international law. Allow me to elaborate on what meaningful and responsible opposition conduct might look like. I encourage Mr. Norton to review the points carefully.

First, it is important that Mr. Norton and his friends, including those that claim to be in civil society, begin to stand with GoG when we are negotiating important international agreements and contracts. Norton no doubt knows that our revised PSA will significantly enhance our financial and economic rewards. The fiscal terms of the new model PSA include a 10 per cent royalty rate and a 65 per cent cost recovery ceiling. That is up from a 2 per cent royalty rate, and a 75 per cent cost recovery schedule. The profit share will remain 50/50 between the government and ExxonMobil and partners, but there is a new corporate tax of 10 per cent. There was no corporate tax in the old regime. President of ExxonMobil Guyana, Alistair Routledge, has indicated he is not ready to sign on because of what he sees as inadequate capacity in the mechanisms to administer the updated terms.

Anyone with a basic business background should know that posturing is a predictable element in the repertoire of negotiating a major contract. The thing is that APNU-AFC, and those in civil society with interest in the governance of our oil & gas sector should recognize ExxonMobil’s ‘dance.’ What they themselves (APNU-AFC+ civil society) do, can have important implications for the outcome of the negotiations. This is a time when ‘national security quality patriotism’ is required. The Leader of the Opposition has a real opportunity to lead in the interest of the country, rather than for only narrow political gains.

The civil society groups like OGGN also have a real chance to show what they are made of. For the longest time they have been talking down the oil and gas sector because of the bad deal signed by the APNU-AFC in 2016. They still have not recognized the efforts by the Irfaan Ali administration to get step-level improvements as articulated in the new PSA. This is despite numerous clarifications provided by Vice President Jagdeo at his weekly press conferences, as well as some outstanding work by financial analyst, Joel Bhagwandin. The time has come for these civil society groups to put aside their partisanship and help buttress the national interest.

The APNU and AFC must take seriously the threat to the stability of this country by a handful of players who are bent on holding on to race as the one and only issue in their lives, or that of the country’s. Mr. Norton should recognize that the time has come for him to abandon the purveyors of doom, many of whom he joined in Washington DC in a failed attempt to get race on the agenda in US-Guyana diplomatic relations. While there are deposits of ethnic antagonism in some sectors of this society, the truth is that most people are concerned with their children’s education, their own security, better jobs with higher pay, owning their own home, and acquiring those consumer durables (AC, washing machines etc.), that will make their lives a bit easier.

Responsible opposition is an integral element in properly functioning parliamentary systems of government. Norton needs to take this seriously. He must distance himself from those like Dr Henry Jeffrey and Dr Nigel Westmaas who dwell on racial ideology, and who have long given up on constructive political or intellectual participation. We all know that Aubrey Norton is struggling within his own PNCR. He should let the backstabbers in his party know that they are not only hurting him as Leader of the Opposition, but also the country as whole.

We are at some important cross-roads in Guyana’s economic, political, and cultural history. Those who rightly voice concerns about Venezuela should continue to do so. What they should also do, however, is bring the same enthusiastic love of country to rally around our key economic sectors and political institutions.

Dr. Randolph Persaud is Adviser in the Office of the President, Guyana