CARICOM Chairman urges greater opposition role in governance
By Chamanlall Naipaul
Guyana Chronicle
June 26, 2004
VISITING CARICOM Chairman and Prime Minister of Antigua & Barbuda, Baldwin Spencer, is advocating a greater role for opposition parties in the governance process in the region.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday at CARICOM’s Bank of Guyana Headquarters, Mr. Spencer opined that greater involvement of opposition parties would broaden and deepen the democratic process and make it more transparent.
However, he said the modalities of an interactive mechanism between opposition parties and CARICOM would have to be worked out.
“At the meeting of the CARICOM Bureau in Antigua two months ago, I made the call for Leaders of the Opposition in Member States to have more interactive and regular dialogue with Heads of Government,” Mr. Spencer recalled.
Touching on his country’s relation with Guyana, Mr. Spencer said his discussions with President Bharrat Jagdeo were excellent and a mixed commission is soon to be formed to pursue the initiatives agreed upon to strengthen bilateral ties between the two countries.
Among the initiatives focused on by the two leaders were promoting greater investment, training and technical assistance and greater contact between the peoples of Guyana and Antigua and Barbuda. As regards the latter, Mr. Spencer noted that Guyanese make up the single largest foreign group of the population of his country.
He also met with Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Robert Corbin, and reported that their discussions were open and constructive.
As regards his visit to the new CARICOM Headquarters under construction at Liliendaal, Mr. Spencer described the building at Liliendaal as being “extremely impressive” and opined that when completed it would become a “landmark for the region.”
He added that having the entire staff of the CARICOM Secretariat housed in one building would increase their synergy and efficiency.
He is the first CARICOM Chairman in office to have visited the building which is being built with help from the Japanese government.
On the Haitian front, Mr. Spencer noted that CARICOM is doing its best but is urging the international community to show greater commitment in assisting the Haitian people.
Options on Haiti, Mr. Spencer said, will be reviewed at the upcoming CARICOM Summit in Grenada, emphasizing that whatever action is taken must ultimately benefit the people of Haiti.