…reminded of his offer to cede territory to Venezuela

MINISTER of State Joseph Harmon has reminded Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo that he had “fooled” the Guyanese nation about his fake marriage to Varshnie Singh and also his offer to cede part of Guyana’s territory to Venezuela during Friday’s debate on the no-confidence motion against the government.

Jagdeo’s fake marriage to Ms Singh had been a source of much public ridicule. He had never fully explained it to the nation, although Singh had gone public about alleged mistreatment by the former President, chronicling episodes of her being put out of State House and other abuses.

Singh in January 2009 had told the media during a news conference that her nine-year marriage to Jagdeo was never registered and that it was a fake. The pair was ‘married’ according to Hindu rites in 1998 and Singh had told reporters that there were at least three attempts to register the union. She said on the first two occasions Jagdeo said he had lost the forms. By the time third attempt was made, he had assumed the presidency and had informed her that he could not be subjected to court proceedings and with that in mind, she took the decision not to sign any legal documents, the Stabroek News (SN) had reported.

Singh, according to the SN report, initially did not think there was a wilful attempt to stall the process, but admitted harbouring doubts in retrospect. The couple split in 2007 and Singh had told the media that she did not receive proper maintenance or care during the marriage and said the Office of the First Lady was a “myth.” She spoke of being locked out of State House on Jagdeo’s instructions.

SLIGHT CONCESSION
Meanwhile, regarding the Venezuela border issue, Jagdeo had told a news conference in the early days of the coalition’s term in office that he had proposed cedeing part of Guyana’s territory to Venezuela in the interest of peace. Jagdeo had made the disclosure at a press conference on October 23, 2015, when he disclosed some of his concerns about the methods being employed by President David Granger to bring the issue to a definitive solution. “There were other options that involved a negotiated settlement which did not see any land concessions that the 1899 award would remain intact…you could probably on the maritime area, give Venezuela a channel out to the sea. So you make a slight concession in the maritime area, but ensure that you do not concede any territory that is land-based,” said Jagdeo, a former President.

Stepping up against the opposition leader who moments prior had referred to the current administration’s leaders as “clueless” and “corrupt”, Harmon pointed out that moral compasses have always and will continue to guide the coalition.“Our administration ushered in a moral and spiritual revival, bringing back the pride in Guyana…this moral and spiritual revival is led by Brigadier David Granger, a family man with a real marriage of over 48 years and Mr. Moses Nagamootoo, a devoted family man with a real marriage of over 40 years to his wife, Sita. Mr. Speaker, these two gentlemen supported by their Cabinet and the churches, mosques and temples around this country have worked and prayed to restore the pride in Guyana,” he stated. Harmon then compared these characteristics with that of Jagdeo whom he said, while in power, embarrassed his supporters as “a President who led this nation to believe that he had a legal marriage.”