The Social Partners have convened a meeting of the representatives of the parliamentary parties to finalise a joint communiqué on crime that it is hoped all can endorse.
The meeting is to be held on Monday and is being convened after the PPP/C and the PNCR expressed confidence in the Partners' ability to forge a consensus on a joint communiqué with which all the parties could be comfortable with and which could be endorsed by President Bharrat Jagdeo and Leader of the Opposition, Desmond Hoyte, in their constitutional capacities.
Stabroek News understands that the meeting would comprise two representatives from each of the parliamentary parties and the government to look at the draft communiqué it had circulated together with any proposed amendments.
Crime is one of the issues identified by the Social Partners and accepted by the parties at the September 11 joint consultation as being in need of immediate attention.
Following a number of amendments by the PNCR to the draft communiqué which the Partners had said showed its best efforts at reflecting the various positions of the parties, the Social Partners wrote the two parties suggesting that they meet to bridge their differences. In submitting their proposals the PNCR had suggested that a brief meeting between the two sides could finalise the document.
The Social Partners prepared their final draft after more than four weeks of shuttling between the two parties.
Among the amendments proposed by the PNCR to the draft is a recognition in the preamble to the document of the role being played by white-collar crime and the growth of gangsterism and drug trafficking; the role of good governance and the role that it must play in resolving the present political and other difficulties, as well as providing opportunities for all Guyanese to play a role in nation-building.
In relation to the proposed measures, the PNCR proposes amendments that call for the immediate replacement of the "Black Clothes Police"; a public inquiry into the operations of the Police Force; an immediate increase in the salary and emoluments of the Police; and holding in abeyance the anti-crime legislation recently enacted during the period while it is reviewed to see what amendments, if any, are necessary.
It also proposes amendments that the recommended measures would be left to the discretion of the Heads of the Security Services to pursue as they think fit in addressing the security situation.
The PNCR also proposed that the Social Partners nominate the members of the Security Advisory Committee with the provision that those involved in the implementation of the security measures should not be involved in the monitoring of the implementation.
The Working People's Alliance has also expressed some reservation on the final draft the Social Partners circulated. Among its reservations are that the documents do not "treat with the widespread perception that `white-collar crime', corruption and extra-judicial killings form an integrated network of activities, which support and reinforce the crime your document seeks to address".
Another concern is the composition of the Security Advisory Committee (SAC) which is to monitor the implementation of the measures being proposed. The WPA says the proposal sacrifices "the national objective in preference to a state security objective that clearly excludes us as an opposition party". It asks the Social Partners for clarification regarding the part it envisages it is to play in the joint consultation with the President and Leader of the Opposition.
About its uneasiness with the proposed composition of the SAC, the WPA says: "Given the current unsatisfactory track record of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the public perception of the leadership roles played by some members of the proposed SAC in the undermining of the constitutional roles of the GDF (Guyana Defence Force) and the GPF, we do not share your optimism that such a body could be instrumental in reversing the gross disrespect being harboured by people who live in impoverished communities that have suffered unjustly and inhumanely at the hands of officers engaged in unprofessional conduct. Or indeed gain the support and trust of the Guyanese public for a security exercise in which they will feature prominently."
The WPA is also concerned that the consultation on the document was restricted to the PPP/C and the PNCR, pointing out that this was a departure from the Social Partners' "stated intention tabled at the commencement of this process to involve all the stakeholders in the society."
It says, "when discussions are limited to the latter (PPP/C and PNCR) nothing durable is achieved and the country bleeds."
The WPA reiterated its position that "we are not prepared to be made pawns to the Social Partners in this process, which falls far short of the mark of an inclusionary political system as expressed in Article 13 of the Constitution of Guyana".
Ravi Dev, leader of ROAR, one of the three smaller parliamentary parties, told Stabroek News that while his party has concerns about the draft communiqué, it was of the view that it was agreement between the PPP/C and the PNCR that was critical.
Sheila Holder, the WPA parliamentarian is concerned about the utility of a meeting of the parties and the government on the issue, unless there is a commitment by all the stakeholders to good faith consultation.