HGP Nightly News – The APNU/PNCR and We Invest in Nationhood have resolved a communication breakdown that affected opposition coordination earlier this week at a joint press conference, PNCR General Secretary Sherwin Benjamin has said.
Benjamin disclosed that he held direct discussions with WIN’s general secretary following the incident. Both parties have since agreed on a clearer process for communicating and organising joint opposition activities.
“There is a commitment on both sides to have communications done in a particular way to allow for a more harmonious arrangement,” he said.
Benjamin declined to explain exactly what caused the breakdown or identify anyone responsible. He said revisiting the disagreement publicly could produce an unnecessary exchange between parties that now want to move forward.
“I see it as water under the bridge,” he said.
The priority, Benjamin added, was maintaining a united opposition response to the MV Barima tragedy and other matters of national importance.
The communication issue surfaced during a week in which several opposition parties held joint engagements calling for an independent inquiry, greater transparency and political accountability following the ferry disaster.
Benjamin said the PNCR and WIN had agreed not to dwell on competing versions of what went wrong.
“We don’t want to have a back-and-forth,” he said. “We want to have a united opposition on this issue.”
Asked about the involvement of individual APNU figures, including Dr. Terrence Campbell and party leader Aubrey Norton, Benjamin again declined to discuss the internal details.
“I am not at liberty to speak on that matter,” he said.
He maintained that the dispute had been settled at the level of the parties’ general secretaries and that future communication would follow the newly agreed arrangement.
Benjamin also rejected any suggestion that the episode showed APNU should no longer be taken seriously as a political force.
He pointed to APNU’s presence in Guyanese politics since its formation in 2011 and its experience operating within coalition arrangements.
According to Benjamin, the disagreement represented a temporary failure in coordination rather than a collapse of opposition cooperation.
The durability of the new arrangement will be tested as the parties coordinate their parliamentary and public responses to the MV Barima tragedy.
For now, Benjamin said, both sides have chosen to stop assigning blame and concentrate on the issues on which they agree.
