First, Head of the Presidential Secretariat and Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon, called for a resumption of the dialogue between President Bharrat Jagdeo and Opposition Leader Desmond Hoyte which was suspended by the PNC/R leader.

Dr. Luncheon said that instead of making allegations against the government that are only adding to misunderstandings and tension, the dialogue should be resumed to resolve outstanding matters, the moreso in view of the existing problems posed by criminals.

Then came a release on Friday from the Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. Ronald Gajraj, urging the PNC/R to end its boycott of Parliament so that police appointments, including that of a new Police Commissioner, could be made.

It is most regrettable that the PNC/R is persisting with its boycott of Parliament while it has the dialogue process "on hold", as if matters of urgent national importance could be delayed indefinitely. They cannot.

Take the case of the delayed appointment of Mr. Winston Felix to succeed the retiring Police Commissioner, Mr. Floyd McDonald.

The entire Police Force knows that the delay in constituting a new Police Service Commission, the body that must approve the appointment of Mr. Felix, has resulted from the lack of cooperation for required consultation with the main parliamentary opposition.

Earlier in the year, President Jagdeo had announced Mr. Felix as Police Commissioner-designate with the impending retirement of Mr. McDonald.

The difference
But not just Mr. Felix's appointment that is being frustrated. The statement from the Ministry of Home Affairs said the promotion of hundreds of "hardworking and deserving gazetted ranks" of the Force are also being affected.

Promotion and discipline of officers of the Police Force cannot be properly addressed either because a new Police Service Commission is yet to be constituted on the basis of Government - Opposition consultation.

The Jagdeo administration has insisted that there are no valid reasons for the PNC/R to maintain its boycott of Parliament or its refusal to resume the bi-partisan dialogue process.

The opposition party, nevertheless, keeps justifying its boycott and non-cooperative stance, even when challenged to produce specific examples of the government's refusal to implement decisions agreed to through the dialogue process.

Across in Jamaica, in contrast, the parliamentary opposition, led by the former Prime Minister, Mr. Edward Seaga, continues to cooperate with the government of Prime Minister Mr. P. J. Patterson in addressing crime and violence and other issues of national importance.

Even when they disagree, for instance on extending police powers to the Jamaica Defence Force in the current anti-crime strategies, the bi-partisan parliamentary committee dealing with the issue agreed last week to seek an opinion from the country's Solicitor General.

Disagreement, therefore, was not allowed to paralyse the intensification of a national anti-crime campaign that involves joint operations by the Jamaica police and army.