Director of Public Information, Edward Layne, has described as “disingenuous and troubling” claims by Editor-in-Chief of Stabroek, Anand Persaud, that his newspaper was not invited to cover President Dr. Irfaan Ali’s press conference on Tuesday.

Persaud, in a Facebook post, alleged that accredited media houses had been excluded from the high-profile briefing, accusing the Office of the President of showing “great disrespect.”

However, Layne, in a comment under Persaud’s post, rejected the assertion outright, dubbing it as “Disingenuous and troubling.”

He said that the accredited Presidential journalist from Stabroek News, Marcelle Fowler, had in fact been contacted and formally invited to attend.

“The accredited Presidential Journalist, Ms. Marcelle Fowler, was contacted via telephone at around 11:00 AM today and invited to cover the President’s Press Conference, just as every other accredited journalist was invited,” Layne explained.

He added that a follow-up WhatsApp message was also sent at 2:30 PM to Fowler, alluding that the outreach was consistent with the process used for all other media houses.

Layne further pointed out that “every other invited journalist” was present at the press conference, with Stabroek News being the only exception.

“Therefore, your claim that you were not invited is nothing short of a blatant lie aimed at advancing your own narrow political agenda,” the DPI Director said.