Making The Change …………………….…………... 27

Bringing Guyana Into the 21st Century

Major constraints at the time were an apparently insufficient grasp of our fundamental economic problems and the role the PPP administration played in maintaining Guyana in a state of arrested development. Things came to a head with the 2014 Budget when the then Opposition APNU and AFC parties combined forces to put a major dent in the budget. Major sticking points included amounts scheduled for expenditure on the Amaila Falls Hydro Power Project. Budget issues were further exacerbated when the Ministry of Finance proceeded to disburse monies for projects within the 2014 budget specifically disapproved by parliament16 . The Opposition parties were happy to hand the government a noconfidence motion by the end of 2014, but this was averted by the President proroguing parliament indefinitely17, the intention apparently being to arrive at a mutually agreeable solution on the way forward through extra-Parliamentary dialogue. This failed. Finally faced with an early election in 2015, I initiated contact with the then campaign manager of the PNCR at Congress Place late in 2014 to discuss the possibility of APNU forming a coalition with the AFC. Although initial thinking in this direction was not on the cards, I indicated that this was the only viable route to ousting the PPP. The idea required political support in the national domain and was broached in the press to stimulate discussion. The AFC for its part had to contend with suspicion from break-away PPP supporters who could not countenance an alliance with APNU under any circumstances. Early in 2015 I commented on a Facebook post where I noticed Mr. Nagamootoo was active and observed that the coalition was indeed the right choice because the size of the APNU was such that the merging of the two parties represented a perfect match to form a full government ready at the get-go to immediately administer the country’s affairs with the outcome of

16 Stabroek News - Govt Gets Time To Answer Request For Order To Stop Unapproved Spending; December 16, 2014. 17 Stabroek News - President Issues Proclamation To Prorogue Parliament – Speaker; November 10, 2014.

5