…President, opposition leader set to meet on election matters today
THE meeting between President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo is on schedule for today at the Ministry of the Presidency, where the two will discuss matters relating to the holding of new General and Regional Elections.
In a letter dated February 25, 2019, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, made the correspondence on behalf of the President which stated: “His Excellency the President extends his best wishes and invites you to meet him at 11:00hrs on Wednesday 2019.03.06 at the Ministry of the Presidency, Vlissingen Road.
“The President wishes to consult with you on the following matters: (1) The National Assembly’s constitutional role in the present situation; and (2) the Guyana Elections Commission’s readiness and requirement for funding to enable it to conduct general and regional elections.”
The President also advised the opposition leader that he had also written the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairman, retired Justice James Patterson, urging him to initiate arrangements for the conduct of elections and committed to supporting his request for financing the elections.
In a subsequent letter, the opposition leader made several proposals to the President for his consideration, which included that an election date be chosen in the period before the expiration of the present voters’ list on April 30, 2019. “I believe that my proposal to hold general and regional elections before April 30, 2019 is reasonable and feasible with a claims and objections period provided that GECOM acts in good faith and in conformity with its mandate and the Constitution,” Jagdeo said.
He also proposed for consideration that: no new contracts be awarded by the state, including Regional Democratic Councils and State-owned corporations, after March 21, 2019; no new agreements, loans, grants and leases or any other such agreements or contracts be awarded after March 21, 2019, that bind the government; that there be no abuse of state resources for partisan activities/purposes and that there is access to the state-owned media by all the contesting political parties.
“On the agreement of your government to these proposals, the Parliamentary Opposition will be prepared to lend its support for the two-thirds majority required to comply with Article 106 (7) for an extension beyond March 21, 2019. I, therefore, am proposing that the meeting focus exclusively on the date for these elections,” the opposition leader said, adding: “If my proposal finds favor with the President, I shall be prepared to meet him on March 6, 2019 at 11:00am or at any other time.”
His correspondence comes after Jagdeo, at his previous press briefing, publicly turned down an offer to meet with the President, accusing him of being involved in fraudulent activities as a result of two letters being sent by the President to the GECOM Chair.
The minister of state, in response, had deemed the opposition leader’s behavior as “malicious” and “bewildering” as the two letters were legitimately sent by the President and acknowledged each other.
Harmon had commented: “We have always said that the President is prepared to engage with the leader of the opposition on any matter of national interest. We consider this to be one such matter and, therefore, that is why the President invited him. So, it is our hope that after mature consideration, the leader of the opposition will change that stance which he has taken today and attend the meeting.”
On Tuesday evening, the opposition leader, in a media release, said that he had received a response from Harmon which stated: “The content of these letters has been conveyed to the President, who advises that he is prepared to meet with you on Wednesday, March 6th at 11:00 hours at the Ministry of the Presidency and to discuss the issues raised in your aforementioned letters.”
