New political leader of the National Joint Action Committee (NJAC) Kwasi Mutema says the party will deepen its commitment to coalition politics in the future as it seeks to bridge gaps and bring people closer together. Mutema was speaking during an interview yesterday, when he was elected by the electoral college on Sunday to replace Caricom Ambassador Makandal Daaga, who was the party’s founding leader.
He said he accepted the new responsibility with pride while he knew that there would be great expectations from the membership after Daaga’s tenure. He added that his election took place during a particularly challenging period for his party. Mutema said he would try to “move forward and rebuild NJAC, not just as a political party but also in the context of being a part of the People’s Partnership Government.” The other units of the PP Government are the UNC, COP and TOP.
Asked to share his view on coalition politics, Mutema said, “It will become more and more the order of the day. It can be very healthy for a country as it encourages parties to bridge gaps that may exist.” He said that was a good thing as some of the parties in the coalition had previously fought against each other.
Saying politics could be divisive, Mutema said, “Coalition politics was a way to try to correct that by bringing parties which opposed each other together.” He said in coalition politics “there must be a lot of give and take and compromise.” Several executive positions within the party are to be filled on Monday and following that meeting, there is to be a review of the party. He said the NJAC must move to reorganise and have people work more effectively.
He said NJAC must also seek to make itself more attractive to the population before the 2015 general election. The new NJAC leader said though there was no need to panic, citizens needed to be more aware of the consequences of falling oil prices internationally as it would have a negative impact on the country. A special meeting is to be held soon to appoint a team to look at the issue of falling oil prices, he said, and citizens must exercise caution in their spending.
The price per barrel of oil slumped to US$59.50 on Thursday.