HEAD of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon will brief Cabinet today on his meeting, last Thursday, with United States (U.S.) Ambassador to Guyana, Mr. Brent Hardt surrounding the controversial $300M U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) funded Leadership and Democracy (LEAD) project.

Meanwhile, General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Mr. Clement Rohee, at a news conference yesterday, reiterated the party’s objection to the continued implementation of the programme, despite the Government’s clear disapproval which was conveyed to Ambassador Hardt in the meeting last Thursday.
In a statement to the Guyana Chronicle, over the weekend, the U.S. Ambassador said the Government’s objections restated last Thursday will be communicated to the USAID and the U.S. Department of State.
The statement explained that the undertaking is being advanced with a view to finding a mutually agreeable way forward, that would support the interests of the people of Guyana in strong and vibrant democratic institutions, civic education in advance of local government elections and broader civic engagement among women and other young Guyanese.
According to Hardt, last Thursday’s discussion also included the continuation of the decades-long collaboration between the U.S. and Guyana in the area of democracy and governance.
Since 2009, such collaborating has been conducted within the framework of the ‘Assistance Agreement between the U.S. and Guyana for governing justly and democratically’, which runs through September 2015.
The PPP General Secretary maintained that, relative to continued relations, the ruling party is hopeful that “good sense” will prevail on the part of the U.S. Government.
STAY OUT
Following Hardt’s weekend comments, the PPP’s statement noted that the sovereign rights of the Government and people of Guyana, to determine their own political future must be respected and not frowned upon as is currently the case, effectively calling on the U.S. to stay out of Guyana’s politics.
It continued: “The Party is at a loss to understand why a foreign power that lays claim to respect for democracy and self-determination of sovereign states could be so callous in its disregard of the opinion of another sovereign state and continue to persist with a project that does not find favour with the Government of Guyana.
“The PPP stands firmly behind the Government of Guyana in its rejection of the LEAD Project and calls on the U.S. Government, through its Ambassador, to end, forthwith, the continuation of the project and re-engage the Guyana Government on the way forward,” the statement intimated.

The party pointed out that the project, in its present form, will not achieve its stated objective, which is to build leadership capacity among stakeholders; rather it, apparently, forms part of a much broader political agenda, which could undermine the country’s fragile democracy.
It added: “The PPP wishes to remind the U.S. Administration that Guyana has had a long and glorious struggle against foreign domination and dictatorial rule and can, therefore, do without being lectured on the elements of democracy and political leadership.
“The Party wishes to draw attention to the fact that the PPP is a democratically elected government with a mandate to govern this country in a manner that corresponds to the wishes and preferences of the Guyanese people and not at the behest and dictates of foreign vested interests.
CONSISTENTLY FOUGHT
“The PPP, both in and out of office, has consistently fought for and championed the cause of a free and independent Guyana where the dignity and integrity of the country is preserved and protected.”
According to the ruling party, it is hopeful that there will be no recurrence of such a situation, which clearly does not bode well for good and harmonious relations between the two countries.
The Guyana Government had previously written to the U.S. Ambassador, seeking clarification following reports that components of the spurned USAID-funded LEAD scheme were still proceeding, in spite of the Administration’s objection to its design.
The response received from the U.S. Embassy called on the Government to engage the U.S. on parts of it and, as a result, in early April, Ambassador Hardt met President Donald Ramotar.
(Vanessa Narine)