The Working People's Alliance (WPA) has welcomed the call by PNC/R leader Desmond Hoyte for a change in Guyana's current governance system.
Hoyte was quoted in yesterday's Stabroek News as saying in his address at Friday's opening session of his party's thirteenth biennial congress at Congress Place, Sophia, that "an adjusted system of governance for our country - whether we call it 'power-sharing', 'shared governance', inclusive governance', or any other name - appears to be an idea whose time has come."
The PNC/R leader said further that "it could hardly be claimed that our present arrangements are working in the best interests of the country and its citizens."
And the WPA in a press release, said that despite its historical differences with the PNC, that party's latest stance is seen as a "patriotic move that if followed through could be a big advance on the road to national reconciliation."
The WPA urged "other forces in the society to grab it with open arms." The party noted too that Hoyte's call has come on the heels of a similar call made recently by PNC/R Vice Chairman Vincent Alexander.
"As the country's most consistent advocate of shared governance over the last three decades," the release said, "the WPA is heartened at this development."
The opposition party said as it awaits the response of the PPP/C, it would warn that "the ruling party's continued stubbornness on this issue would only serve to further deepen the crisis."
The WPA said while it agrees that the reforms agreed to in the Constitutional Reform Committee should be implemented without further delay, this should not hold up the search for a definitive solution to the mounting national problem.
"These reforms, though essential, do not go to the heart of the problem," the party posited.
According to the WPA, any model of shared governance or power sharing must encourage political stability, national reconciliation, racial justice, equitable racial, class and gender representation, accountable and transparent governance, and wider and deeper participation in decision-making.
In that regard, the party said it favours a model with the following components:
a) Executive power sharing based on proportional representation;
b) The empowering of parliament to serve as an independent check on the executive, including the institution of a special or super majority in place of a simple majority;
c) The empowerment of the judiciary to serve as an independent branch of government with expressed powers of judicial review;
d) Devolution of power to local and regional bodies, including village councils to serve as vertical checks on the central government.
However, the WPA pointed out that while it will push hard for this model, the party is not inflexible. "We are prepared to listen to and discuss other models, (and) in the final analysis the legitimacy of any model that is adopted rests on a national consensus."
Against that background, the party is urging civil society to urgently facilitate a public education campaign on the various power sharing proposals.
The WPA said it recognizes that power sharing is virgin territory for Guyana and the model itself contains some inherent structural difficulties. "But we feel these can be contained and overcome by the will of all political forces and the nation at large, to forge a national community."