Government is yet to announce to the nation its ambassadorial appointments although President David Granger has confirmed that some of the nominees have been contacted and a decision is likely to be made before year end. “I cannot give you a deadline; it is a work that is in progress. We have nominations; the minister of foreign affairs has already made some presentations to Cabinet… I reckon that in this last quarter of the year, October, November and December we will have a full slate of representatives at all of our missions,” the President told the Guyana Chronicle.
The President was scheduled to meet with Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge on Sunday to continue talks on the appointments. “I would be meeting the Minister of Foreign Affairs later and this is a matter that we would be discussing.” Asked to provide names of some of the nominees, Granger said, “We have nominations…it is a work in progress…the foreign minister has also written to the incumbents and received responses so it is bound to happen this year because of the issues which confront us at present.”
During his recent tour at the United Nations President Granger had told a Guyanese journalists that he would now be looking to new diplomats he will appoint over the coming weeks to solidify the gains made at the UN General Assembly. “The next breed of Guyanese diplomats must be able to propel our economic diplomacy much more quickly than it is being propelled currently,” Mr Granger said. He said the economic viability of Guyana is paramount, but “this does not mean we will not pay attention to the specific strategic threats we face because that has an economic side,” he said, referring to the border controversy which has been “hindering development.” “So we’re looking for Ambassadors who can sell Guyana, not only rum and rice, but also bring foreign direct investment into our country,” the President stated.
Over the past few months, Government has said that there must be the rotation of Heads of Mission. Just after the May 11 General Elections, government announced that the Heads of Mission should not be in-situ for more than four years. The procedure for diplomats, government said is for them to be rotated between a two to four year period. Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge said that it is government’s intention to have politicians who are not career diplomats resign from their posts given that the former government is no longer in power.