President Dr. Irfaan Ali met Wednesday with members of the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Economic Services, pressing ahead with his stated commitment to greater engagement between the executive and legislative branches even as opposition members stayed away for a second consecutive meeting.
The absence placed renewed focus on the contrast between opposition calls for greater transparency, accountability and consultation and their decision not to participate in the two engagements offered by the President on major national issues.
During Wednesday’s meeting at State House, Ali updated representatives on key economic matters, which he said were imperative to the government’s plans to continue developing strategies to address challenges in the global environment.
All members of the committee were invited through the Speaker of the National Assembly.
The President had publicly announced the engagements at his Monday news conference, making clear that both government and opposition representatives would have an opportunity to engage him directly on major policy issues.
“Later this week, I’m having two meetings — one with the Foreign Relations [Committee] of the Parliament and one with the Economic Services Committee of the Parliament, because I believe in working and letting everyone understand what we are doing at the policy level,” Ali said Monday.
He said the discussions would include the mid-year economic review, cost-of-living pressures, inflation and the effects of global energy and transportation challenges.
Ali also signalled that parliamentarians would not be restricted to a narrow list of subjects.
“It’s going to be broad, a broad agenda. It’s not going to be a structured agenda. It’s a broad agenda,” he said.
Despite that invitation, neither We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) nor A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) participated Wednesday.
Their absence Wednesday followed the parliamentary opposition’s non-participation in Tuesday’s meeting between Ali and members of the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Foreign Relations.
That engagement dealt with significant national and international matters, including Guyana’s proceedings before the International Court of Justice and the Third Country National Agreement between Guyana and the United States.
All members of that committee had similarly been invited through the Speaker of the National Assembly.
Those who attended welcomed the engagement and expressed their desire for continued discussions in furtherance of Guyana’s foreign policy agenda.
Following Tuesday’s meeting, Ali outlined that it is his government’s intention “to strengthen its work with all parliamentary committees in an open, transparent and accountable manner.”
The two meetings therefore provided opposition parliamentarians with direct opportunities to engage the President on the same broad areas of governance, economic policy, transparency and national decision-making on which they have sought greater scrutiny and consultation.
For a second consecutive engagement, those opportunities proceeded without their participation.