The parliamentary opposition believes that efforts to relocate the political dialogue between the government and the major opposition party should be accompanied by the efforts to reduce the executive dominance over the parliamentary process so as to make the National Assembly a more meaningful forum for such discussions.
They made their representations to Juliet Solomon from the Commonwealth Secretariat who was here on a follow-up visit to that made by the envoy of the Common-wealth Secretary General, Sir Paul Reeves in June. Sir Paul has been pressing for the political dialogue to take place within a parliamentary context but admits that Guyana's history and tradition of government do not give parliament the pride of place that it deserves. As a consequence the Common-wealth Secretariat plans to provide assistance to the parliament to help in developing the committee system and to the Speaker in the running and administration of Parlia-ment. It will also be providing assistance to the Guyana Elections Commis-sion in the areas where it has requested such help.
Solomon met Leader of the Opposition, PNCR leader Robert Corbin, ROAR leader Ravi Dev and GAP/WPA parliamentarian, Sheila Holder on Wednesday as part of the series of meetings she and her colleague Lach Fergusson from the Secretariat's Good Officer Unit have held with government officials and representatives of the parliamentary opposition and other civil society organisations.
She told Stabroek News the discussions with the representatives of the various parties centred on the need for parliament to function in an atmosphere of trust and confidence and how they saw the assistance to be provided by the Commonwealth Secre-tariat helping in that respect.