The Guyana Press Associa-tion (GPA) is considering hosting a presidential debate ahead of the general elections this year but the idea is “now being explored,” President Gordon Moseley has said.
Moseley said interest in presidential debates is high, while noting that people are eager to hear the candidates debate each other on the issues affecting the country. However, he said that while the idea has been raised within the GPA, “there is nothing definitive to report.”
Moseley told Stabroek News yesterday that at least two presidential candidates have informally indicated interest and more recently the GPA has been looking at the field to see whether new candidates have emerged.
The debate format would have to be thoroughly worked out, Moseley said, but observed that the GPA is likely to plan the debates using the United States model. “We are still addressing all these issues and based on what comes out of those discussions the GPA would then move forward…we are interested in this, as are the Guyanese people,” he stated.
Representatives of the three major political parties were expected to appear at an engagement at the University of Guyana last Wednesday, which was touted as the first of the presidential debates but it was postponed reportedly due to conflicting schedules.
A row later erupted between the Alliance for Change (AFC) and the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) after the former accused PPP presidential candidate Donald Ramotar of avoiding the “debate.” The PPP has said Ramotar that was never invited to any debate.
The PPP later released the letter from Head of UG’s Faculty of Social Sciences Kadasi Ceres, dated February 22, which was addressed to the General Secretary of the PPP. “With national and regional elections scheduled later this year, the University of Guyana through the Faculty of Social Sciences is interested in having political parties meet with students as part of their engagement with society.
“The objectives of these exercises are to provide a forum for discussion and interaction between students and representatives of political parties (and) to enable political parties to present issues of national development as outlined in the parties’ manifestos and in particular those which apply to young people,” the letter said.
Ceres asked whether interest could be confirmed in the activity and said that feedback was also being solicited on a suitable time between March and May. Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud responded to the letter on April 18, saying that Ramotar was available in May at a mutually convenient date and time.
Stabroek News contacted Ceres yesterday to ascertain whether a date has been set for the engagement, in addition to seeking clarification on the format of the engagement, among other things. Ceres declined to comment, saying that he was not in a position to respond “at this time.”
But a UG source who requested anonymity indicated that the engagement which Ceres planned for the POL 120 class at the campus was not intended to be a presidential debate. The source said that Ceres informed students he would invite the political candidates to speak to them on whatever issues they perceive as important and the students would be given time to ask questions. “It was not plugged as a debate on campus because I don’t think the Faculty of Social Sciences and or the university has committed any funds to organise a presidential debate, it was meant to simply be an in-class session,” the source added.
According to the source, since the story went public about a presidential debate the engagement suffered a few setbacks. He said that Ceres appeared “stunned” by the reports of a presidential debate being organised by the University.
There is no clear indication as to when the engagement is likely to be, the source said, while noting that Ceres appears to be planning the engagement all over again. “I think he had to go back over this thing from the top because of what has been said about it and how it has turned out so far,” he added.
The UG engagement was initially scheduled for April 15 and later postponed to April 20, after one of the candidates indicated his unavailability to meet at the earlier date. Still, it was postponed a second time.
But presidential candidates representing the PPP/C, the PNCR and the AFC are to meet the business community at separate luncheons beginning this week; AFC Presidential candidate Khemraj Ramjattan will speak at the first session on Wednesday.
The Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) recently announced that it had obtained the consent of the three parties to host their candidates in a series of discourses.
PNCR Presidential candidate David Granger will address the business community on May 11 and PPP/C Presidential candidate Donald Ramotar on May 25. All three luncheons will be held at the Guyana Pegasus Hotel.
The GMSA’s release said: “The series will take the form of business luncheons that will be open not only to members of the GMSA, but to the entire business community and other stakeholders who are interested in the plans and programmes that each candidate has devised to promote private sector development in Guyana.
“Admission will be by invitation only, so interested parties are asked to contact the GMSA Secretariat, 157 Waterloo St, North Cummingsburg, George-town, for further information.”
