A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) is ready to name its three-member team to develop a framework for talks with We Invest in Nationhood (WIN), but is awaiting a response from the main opposition party, APNU parliamentarian Ganesh Mahipaul said on Friday.
Responding to a question at an APNU press conference, Mahipaul said the coalition had accepted that the engagement between the two opposition groupings should be governed by an agreed framework rather than conducted through intermittent discussions on individual issues.
“Our position from the APNU side is that we are prepared to name our three members,” he said.
Mahipaul said the proposed teams would establish the “modalities” and principles governing the talks.
“We want a framework, and we have basically accepted that in the discussion. The framework is going to guide the principles that are going to determine how we move forward,” he said.
He added that the talks should not be confined to appointments to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and other constitutional bodies, but should also address broader opposition cooperation and efforts to hold the government accountable.
“There has to be a framework, there have to be principles and there have to be objectives,” Mahipaul said.
He declined to disclose APNU’s proposed representatives, but said the coalition knew whom it was prepared to nominate and was ready to advance the process.
Mahipaul said APNU had not received a response from WIN on the establishment of the two three-member teams.
The proposed arrangement emerged from an August 24 meeting at Brandsville Suites between Opposition Leader and WIN Leader Azruddin Mohamed and APNU Leader Aubrey Norton.
The meeting was convened against the backdrop of differences over opposition representation on the Local Government Commission, the composition of the opposition-nominated side of GECOM, the selection of paid opposition scrutineers and the impasse affecting the Region Ten Regional Democratic Council.
The two sides described their engagement as cordial but reached no agreement on the substantive issues.
A joint statement, which was promised immediately after the meeting, was issued five days later. It said WIN would consult its leadership and membership before deciding whether to appoint a three-member team. APNU was expected to consult the other parties in its coalition before selecting its representatives.
The teams would be tasked with developing general and specific guidelines to govern future engagement between the parties. The statement confirmed that no final decisions had been reached on the issues which prompted the meeting.
WIN holds 16 seats in the National Assembly and APNU 12, while the Forward Guyana Movement has one.
Among the major areas of disagreement is WIN’s contention that the current composition of opposition representation on several bodies does not reflect the results of the 2025 general elections.
WIN has also objected to the fact that none of the 69 opposition scrutineers being paid by GECOM represents it or the Forward Guyana Movement.
Norton has maintained that the sitting opposition-nominated GECOM commissioners cannot be removed by political leaders and can leave office only through resignation, death or constitutional change.
Mahipaul on Friday gave no proposed date for the three-member teams to begin meeting.
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