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Opposition Leader rejects invite for March 6 meeting with President
By Abena Rockcliffe-Campbell
Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo has long said that any further meetings with President David Granger will be predicated on the issues listed on the agenda to be discussed. Jagdeo said that unless the President wants to discuss a possible date for elections, meetings are essentially a no, no as far as he is concerned. That position now appears to be unwavering.
Earlier this week, President David Granger extended an invitation to Jagdeo for a meeting on March 6. Jagdeo is still to actually respond to the President’s invite. Before informing Granger about his refusal, Jagdeo informed the media. He did so at a press conference hosted yesterday at his Church Street Office.
At that forum, Jagdeo did not even state if he plans on ever penning a formal response to the Head of State.
Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo
What he stated, however, is that none of the topics the President proposed to be discussed are appealing to him.
Jagdeo asked, “Why do I need to meet with President Granger next week? He wanted to consult with me on the National Assembly’s constitutional role in the present situation, and that is clearly defined in the Constitution. He does not need to consult with me on that.”
Jagdeo suggested that instead of the President consulting with him on such an issue, he should just simply “read the Constitution and comply with it.”
The Opposition Leader said that the second issue President Granger wanted to consult on has to do with the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM)’s readiness for the hosting of General and Regional Elections and requirements for funding to enable GECOM to conduct such elections.
Jagdeo said that he also needs not be consulted on those two issues.
Addressing the request to meet on GECOM’s readiness, Jagdeo said that it is a waste of time meeting with the president on that, simply because he believes that the government gave “directions to GECOM not to be ready. They have not even started preparations and the constitutional period is essentially expired.”
Regarding funding, Jagdeo said, “Section 222 of our Constitution allows GECOM to use the lump sum money that they have (the $3B for house-to-house) in their own discretion and that is adequate funds for the conduct of General Elections.”
Jagdeo railed, “So why does he want to consult with me? (He said) nothing about when they are going to have election, the date for election. I made it clear that unless a date for election is the topic, there will be no meeting. They will drive us into unconstitutional territory, and we will go there, because we are not going to compromise on this government not complying with the Constitution of Guyana.”
He continued, “The entire world will treat them as illegal; we will treat them as illegal and they would be illegal. There will be no doubt about it.”
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