Commonwealth envoy concludes visit
By Gitanjali Singh
Stabroek News
February 26, 2003
Sir Paul Reeves, the envoy of the Commonwealth Secretary-General is scheduled to leave Guyana today after several meetings with President Bharrat Jagdeo and PNCR leader, Robert Corbin.
Sir Paul told Stabroek News yesterday that he had also met with Dr Rupert Roopnaraine and Sheila Holder MP of the Working People's Alliance as well as the local diplomatic community and civil society organisations.
He said that his visit was the first of a series he planned to make this year as his mission was being undertaken at the invitation of President Bharrat Jagdeo and with the knowledge and support of the PNCR. Sir Paul asserted that he remained engaged in the process, and the permanent presence of Chuks Ihikabaiye, the contact person of the Commonwealth Secretariat was indicative of this.
Sir Paul did not meet with ROAR as he had done on previous trips. Ravi Dev, ROAR's leader, told Stabroek News that his schedule prevented a meeting being arr-anged.
However, he said that he was very appreciative of the efforts being made by the Commonwealth Secretary-General through Sir Paul's mission to bring the parties together.
Sir Paul was also unable to meet with Private Sector Commission chairman, Dr Peter deGroot but Stabroek News understands that a meeting is scheduled to take place shortly between Dr deGroot and Ihikabaiye.
The focus of Sir Paul's mission is to facilitate a resumption of the dialogue between the leadership of the PNCR and President Jagdeo, a return to a functioning parliament and the implementation of the agreed constitutional reforms.
Holder with whom the Stabroek News was able to speak confirmed that this was the gist of their conversation.
In March, the PNCR suspended the dialogue process with President Jagdeo and withdrew from the work of the National Assembly because of its dissatisfaction with the non-implementation of the decisions he and the President had reached as well as what it said was the government's failure to implement the agreed constitutional reforms.
It returned briefly on February 19 to debate a private members' bill tabled by Corbin on the crisis in the electricity sector as well as the threat posed to the nation's security as a result of the deteriorating crime situation, and the other crises in the economic political and social sectors.
The government used its majority to defeat the motion after backroom efforts to reach a compromise on the resolutions failed. As a result, the PNCR announced that it would resume its boycott of the work of the National Assembly until the government demonstrated its good faith by addressing the ills identified during the debate in parliament.
However, measures for implementing two of the resolutions on which the parties found a measure of agreement are expected to form part of the discussions when President Jagdeo and Corbin meet.
That meeting is expected to be held sometime after President Jagdeo returns to the country on March 4.
