PNCR and Opposition Leader, Robert Corbin (left) greets former US President Jimmy Carter on his arrival for a meeting at Congress Place, Sophia yesterday morning. (Photo by Ken Moore)
Former US President Jimmy Carter yesterday sounded out the views of civil society on a continuing role here for the centre named for him amid support for this from President Bharrat Jagdeo and the ruling PPP.
President Jagdeo has indicated to Carter his interest in the Carter's Center continued role in Guyana in the run up to the 2006 General Elections and in the execution of the National Develop-ment Strategy. The latter document had been initially put together with help from the Center.
The People's Progressive Party (PPP), too, has indicated to Carter the party's desire for the Carter Center's continued presence in Guyana, a position other political parties and organisations which met with Carter have not explicitly stated but have indicated through their presentations.
In response to what would have been discussed in the closed-door session between Carter and Jagdeo on Wednesday, the President's Press Liaison Robert Persaud told Stabroek News yesterday that the Guyanese leader outlined a number of issues in favour of the Carter Center's continued presence in Guyana.
Persaud said the meeting lasted for over an hour and it is expected that there would be a follow up meeting today before Carter leaves the country.
Members of cultural and civil organisations meeting with former US President, Jimmy Carter (third from left) at Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel yesterday. From left are Violet Jean-Baptiste of the African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA) and Ryhaan S
On his arrival here on Wednesday, Carter made an opening statement which has generated interest. He said he believed that the basic integrity of Guyana's political, social and economic systems must be made more responsive to the needs and aspirations of all Guyanese.
Jagdeo hosted a dinner in Carter's honour last evening. Among those Carter met with yesterday were the leadership of the PNCR, the PPP and ROAR and
representatives of the African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA), the Amerindian People's Association, the Guyana Indian Heritage Association (GIHA), the Guyanese Organization of Indigenous Peoples, and the Indian Arrival Committee. He also met with the members of the Ethnic Relations Commission.
Asked about the meeting between the PNCR and Carter, PNCR Leader Robert Corbin said Carter wanted an assessment of the situation in Guyana from the party's point of view and whether there was any role for the centre.
Corbin said he told Carter that the party's main concern was "creating a very stable political environment so that this country can breathe again." Key to that was "the issue of inclusive governance, the unresponsiveness of the administration as evidenced by the death squad, their approach to the death squad issue, the question of local and general elections and the preparedness of the Guyana Elections Commission and the non-implementation of agreements which have been made already in the constructive engagement process."
Corbin said the agreement of equitable time for parliamentary parties in the state media has not been honoured resulting in the government's control of the state media for party propaganda purposes under the guise of government information. He also expressed the need for parliamentary institutions to function effectively without executive interference.
These issues, he said, point to the need to address the question of good governance in Guyana whether it is through inclusive or shared governance. Carter, he said, asked many questions generally about the situation in Guyana and the party's perception of the issues.
Having relayed its points of view, Corbin said it was now for the Carter Center to see how it could help in that process. "It is not for me to say to them ... they, having seen the situation, will determine if and how they can play a part."
Carter is due to meet with the PNCR again today. "Perhaps, he would want to share with us his final impression before he leaves," Corbin suggested.
Cater met with the PPP at Freedom House shortly after meeting with the PNCR, and General Secretary, Donald Ramotar said the PPP's position on the Carter Center's continued presence in Guyana was "yes". He said the PPP feels there was still a big role for the Carter Center and for Carter, himself, in consolidating democracy and to make it irreversible in Guyana. The party feels that the country has gone a very far way, as far as democracy was concerned, from when he brokered an agreement between the Patriotic Coalition for Democracy (PCD) and the PNCR government some 13 years ago.
Asked what role the PPP sees the Carter Center playing in political relations with the main opposition, Ramotar said Carter himself mentioned that he did not come to Guyana to mediate but to explore the possibility of the centre's continued presence here.
Meanwhile in a statement issued on Carter's visit, the PPP said the party was aware of the assistance rendered by the Carter Center in other areas of national development, including the provision of technical and other forms of assistance in the garnering of stakeholders' inputs in the preparation and formulation of the National Development Strategy. This document, the party said, has provided the framework for the government's Poverty Reduction Strategy programme.
GIHA President, Ryhaan Shah said that at the cultural organisations meeting with Carter they gave frank opinions about what they felt were the burning issues, such as ethnic violence and cultural marginalisation affecting the ethnic communities in the country.
She gave Carter a GIHA crime report along with a summary of what the organisation has done since. The issue of power sharing was also raised.
She said GIHA feels there should be some change in the system of governance that gives parity and equity to all the groups so that everyone feels included.
They also raised the issue of the death squads and of perceived official links and corruption in the government.
Noel King of ACDA said that apart from the issues highlighted by Shah, ACDA also spoke of the theft of ancestral lands and the breakdown in the rule of law.
In his meeting with the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) which took place at BIDCO House in Queenstown, Commissioner Dr Frank Anthony recalled that the dialogue was useful and a number of areas were discussed with the need for follow up discussions.
Another Commissioner Andrew Garnette said the ERC touched on the question of electoral reform and Carter spoke of the need to modify the winner-take-all system in elections to ensure that no one was perceived to be left out.
The commission also spoke of ensuring that the major political parties could sit in the presence of international organisations of high repute and assist in working out some satisfactory system of electoral reform that would make the government in power be seen as the government for all the people.
Apart from meeting with Jagdeo and the PNCR today, Carter is due to meet with representatives of private sector bodies, the trades union movement, GAP/WPA, the Chancellor of the judiciary, the Chief Justice and a representative of the Guyana Bar Association, the Rights of the Child Organisation and the international community.
Meanwhile, in a statement, the People's Movement for Justice (PMJ) said that even though it was excluded from the discussions, the PMJ, like the rest of Guyana, holds the view that Carter and the Carter Center cannot escape some political and moral responsibility for the present state of affairs in Guyana.
The statement said the very fact that Carter and his centre are currently reviewing their relevance both to the people and the political landscape of Guyana was in itself instructive. The PMJ said that the least Guyanese could expect from Carter's visit was a firm, unambiguous commitment to be the international vanguard for the restoration of the rule of law, the end to extra judicial executions, the cessation of state-sponsored killings by state controlled death squads and facilitation of ethnic and national reconciliation in Guyana.