Absence of Cabinet press briefing

The four-year-plus Irfaan Ali government is not holding Cabinet press briefing. This troubling development  is not good for Guyana because it deprives Guyanese of knowing what transpired at the weekly Cabinet meeting. It has become part of Guyana’s government practice to hold briefings after deliberations and decisions are made at Cabinet. These press briefings also allow for the media to ask questions and for the government to answer or clarify concerns. The briefing also serves as a check and balance on government.

There are too many things happening in society and people remain in the dark or are left to assume. People are hearing about the government doing a construction here, a building going up there, a new road or new bridge to be built somewhere, but the media is being denied the opportunity to ask questions on these. Society wants to know what has informed the decisions for these projects. People want to know whether the government is taking any loan for any of the projects, who is/are funding the loan, the duration and interest rate.

The President heads the Cabinet and has a responsibility to society to brief the nation after or delegate someone to. What could be inferred from the absence of these briefings is that the government has something to hide and does not want to account to the public. This may not be the case but the lack of transparency is not healthy for governing and society. Where society knows nothing, it creates opportunities for speculation and mistrust. Society cannot continue to live in darkness. Lest it be forgotten, democracy dies in darkness.

Some may argue that there is no law mandating post Cabinet press briefing. But these briefings have become custom and practice, and the Executive has a responsibility to share the deliberations and decisions arising out of these meetings in order that the society can be involved.

Releases churned out from the Department of Public Information will not do because these are not press briefings. Further, the absence of post-Cabinet press briefing and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo being the only one engaging the media feeds perception President Irfaan Ali is not in charge of the government and country.