The Social Partners group has been tasked with elaborating further its recommendations on the categorisation of the measures to address the many problems facing the country and the time frames for their implementation, which take into account the views of the parliamentary parties.
A joint statement by the parties that attended the consultation on Wednesday at Le Meridien Pegasus convened by the Social Partners said that the group was asked to do so after the parties had given their views on the suggested structured framework for the ongoing consultations it put forward.
The group is expected to present its document at the next meeting of the parties and it has been made "responsible for arranging the next meeting within a reasonable timeframe".
Wednesday's meeting was a follow-up to the consultations the Social Partners held with the political parties during the past seven weeks. At those consultations the Social Partners group set out its ideas on shared governance as provided for in Article 13 of the Constitution.
The joint statement should have been issued on Thursday, but it had not been finalized.
The meeting on Wednesday was nearly boycotted by President Bharrat Jagdeo who had made his attendance at the meeting conditional on General Secretary of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), Lincoln Lewis, being dropped from the Social Partners delegation. The Social Partners group comprises the GTUC, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) and the Guyana Bar Association.
However, following meetings between PSC Chairman, Dr Peter de Groot; the GTUC and President Jagdeo, Lewis' position was clarified. A statement after those meetings said that Lewis was a member of the GTUC delegation, which would be led by GTUC President, Carvil Duncan, and that de Groot would be the spokesperson for all the Social Partners and would be supported to chair the joint consultations.
But after the meeting on Wednesday, Information Liaison to the President, Robert Persaud, had said that the President agreed to be at the meeting after Lewis had been "demoted" in terms of his role as member of the GTUC delegation, which would be led by Duncan, and as a member of the delegations comprising the Social Partners. Persaud said that at the initial consultation with President Jagdeo, Lewis held himself out to be spokesperson for grouping.
At the meeting between the Social Partners and the President, Duncan was absent and the alternate member, Principal Assistant Secretary, Andrew Garnett, was present.
A statement by the Social Partners, which was issued yesterday refuted the suggestions that Lewis was "demoted" as a result of official intervention.
It cautioned against persons speculating "on the position or status of the general secretary of the GTUC in these matters and to consider whether, given the state of the nation, they are contributing positively to a resolution of the issues that have divided and now threaten to destroy us."
A GTUC statement confirmed that its delegation to the meetings of the Social Partners and the Joint Consultation comprised Duncan and Lewis with Garnett as the alternate member. It said too that the GTUC "has the fullest confidence in the nominated officers to represent the interests of labour at this forum".
It explained "it is a well established practice in every case when the President of the GTUC is a member of a delegation, that delegation is led by the President".
The Social Partners initiated the consultations in an effort to broaden the dialogue between President Jagdeo and Hoyte, which had been suspended. It was also motivated by the widespread concern about the present crime situation which has spiralled out of control and the belief that a national approach should be taken to address it.