PRESIDENT David Granger’s addresses to the Parliament were necessary and in keeping with the Constitution of Guyana, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo said as he opened the debate on the President’s October 13, 2016 address.In his address to the National Assembly on Friday, Prime Minister Nagamootoo said Article 51 of the Constitution states clearly that the Parliament comprises the President and the National Assembly.

Prior to October 13, 2016, President Granger had addressed the Parliament five times before he was elected in May last year, creating history in Guyana as the first President to have addressed Parliament on so many occasions.

In these addresses, the Prime Minister said the policies of the government, and matters of national sovereignty, national development, and national unity were brought to the fore.

“These are undoubtedly the three observations of all patriots of Guyana to say that we can effectively defend our sovereignty, we can pursue national development for all our people, and that we can achieve our goal of national unity as a sovereign nation,” Prime Minister Nagamootoo told the House.

He told members on both sides of the House that he disagrees with those who are of the opinion that President Granger should not have revisited the past in his last address.

In building his argument, the Prime Minister alluded to the challenges the country faces with respect to maintaining its sovereignty. He said Guyanese must be reminded that it is a fact and a matter of law that Guyana’s boundaries with regard to its neighbour to the west, was settled.

He said too that consideration of the past is necessary when putting national and international matters into context.

“I believe that not only should a sitting Government be judged by what it has promised before it has entered office, but it [also] has to be judged by what it experienced when it assumed office, the condition of life upon assumption of office, and therefore we could only deliver, as against what we inherited.”

President Granger, in his address, alluded to not only “The Good Life” promised by the coalition government and areas of development and security, but also reflected on the times when the country was faced with extra-judicial killings, corruption and an ailing sugar industry.

“It was a time of arbitrary arrests; of disappearances and of torture of young men; of the surge in armed robberies, narco-trafficking and gun-running. During that first, deadly decade, there were 1,317 murders and 7, 865 armed robberies,” the President had recalled.

Turning his attention to the sugar industry, President Granger had noted that the mismanagement had led the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUC0) to become bankrupt with a debt of $89B.

“Your Government was forced [to] divert money from economic development and social projects to rescue the ailing corporation with an immediate injection of $12 billion. An additional $11 billion had to be provided the next year, 2016, making a total of $23 billion bailout in 18 months,” the President had noted.

These reflections, the Prime Minister emphasised, were critical to understand the Government’s current position on issues of national development and importance.

Prime Minister Nagamootoo said despite these infractions, and in an effort to move the country forward in unity, President Granger had extended the olive branch to the main opposition – the People’s Progressive Party (PPP).

Quoting President Granger, the Prime Minister said: “We owe it to future generations to use the remaining months and days of this year to build bridges across the abyss of discord. The two sides of this House have not always disagreed. They have found common ground in the pursuit of the common good at times. The avenues for compromise and consensus remain open.”

Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, had said he sees the president’s continuous address to the Parliament in such a short period as an imposition.

Jagdeo said while the Opposition cannot limit the President in his presentation, or object to the revisiting of the past in order to put issues into context, the past must be reflected in its true state.