-Jagdeo says PPP/C will not be caught up in any ‘side avenues’ of the opposition

AFTER signing a lopsided deal for Guyana’s oil production, the Alliance For Change (AFC) now wants a referendum on the ExxonMobil 2016 contract.

This was according to the AFC’s Chairman David Patterson, who said that the party supports having a referendum on the matter of oil and gas.

Patterson, during a press conference on Friday, said that he believes it would be a good idea to have a referendum on this and other issues which he thinks are necessary.

“We would support a referendum to do all of those things, including matters of oil and gas, on a referendum before an election,” Patterson said.

Notably, it was a founding member and current executive member of the AFC, Raphael Trotman, who signed the contract while serving as Natural Resources Minister under the APNU+AFC.

Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo views the “referendum talk” as another move by key figures of the opposition APNU/AFC to shift the blame for the controversial ExxonMobil oil contract.

The PPP/C government, despite the challenges, has showed that the country can get more out of the contract to benefit the population.

“We showed that we can get more out of the contract that I explained in the past. We can get significantly more benefits for the people of this country. The gas-to-energy project alone is 250 million US per year in savings to the population. The local content law brings in 700 million US,” Jagdeo said.

A referendum, in addition to be an effort to shift blame, would also put additional elements on the ballot and this would complicate the process.

He went on to add that anything about a referendum on any particular matter has to be debated openly and is not for the head of a political party or a member of the cabinet to pronounce on these issues.

“It must be debated fully. And then if there is an appropriate time for that, it will be done in the future,” Jagdeo said.

He added that the PPP/C will not be caught up in any of the opposition ‘side avenues’ in the lead-up to the elections as that process is about choosing a government.

“I do not want [the] 2025 elections to be complicated with side rules. Next thing, Vincent Alexander and the others they would love to latch on to something else where GECOM has to now detract from all of its effort or to divert some of its effort from the 2025 elections to other kinds of issues.

“That’s not going to serve the interests of the country or in this case, the PPP that has been a subject or has been subjected repeatedly to attempts by PNC and APNU to steal elections. Do not complicate that process,” Jagdeo said.

He said not because another country did a referendum on one issue, means that Guyana should go down that route.