In response to criticisms by PPP/C prime ministerial candidate Elisabeth Harper, APNU+AFC presidential candidate David Granger yesterday maintained his position that Guyana’s response to the 2013 seizing of the oil exploration vessel Teknik Perdana by Venezuela was lacking and more should have been done.
Speaking on the iRadio programme “Hard Talk” over the weekend, Granger restated his position that the government’s response was weak; it was similar to what he had expressed in this newspaper in October 2013.
However, on Tuesday Harper in a post on her Facebook page accused Granger of “belatedly declaring his disappointment with how we responded to illegal actions by Venezuela against operators of concessions offshore Guyana and the equipment of those operators.”
She described the criticism as nothing “but the exploitation of a key national issue for narrow political gain.” According to the prime ministerial candidate—who was the Director General of Foreign Affairs at the time of the vessel seizure—Granger had supported the actions of the government in relation to those very violations and threats from neighbouring Venezuela.
“To describe Guyana’s actions as weak when we were able to garner the public support of the Caribbean Community and the Commonwealth can be nothing but dishonest,” she stated.
She also said that while Granger stated that other options were open to be explored by government, he failed to declare what he would have done or would do differently if he were to become the President of this country.
“Any government led by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic will not play politics with Guyana’s most important asset, its territory,” she asserted while accusing Granger of making the country appear weak because such a stance demonstrates disunity in regard to the protection of our national patrimony when it is unity of purpose and action that is required at all times.”
However, in a press release yesterday Granger fired back at Harper and questioned how she could be so “woefully misinformed.”
The release said, “For the immediate past Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to say that Granger was belatedly declaring his disappointment on the government handling of the Venezuelan navy’s seizure of the oil exploration vessel Teknik Perdana, is a clear sign that Elisabeth Harper was not paying attention.”
It further stated that there has been no change in Granger’s position on the country’s defence and foreign policy.
The release further stated that in the October 12, 2013 edition of the Stabroek News and again on October 19, 2013 the APNU+AFC presidential candidate as Leader of the Opposition had cause to critique the PPP/C administration’s handling of the matter.
“The meeting solved nothing,” Granger had told a news conference one day after delegations from Guyana and Venezuela held talks in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad to discuss the Venezuelan navy’s seizure of the oil exploration vessel and decided to have their technical experts meet in four months to discuss maritime delimitation.
At that time he called on President Donald Ramotar to convene a Border and National Security Committee in the wake of the incident and that it should immediately consider the implications of, and Guyana’s response to, the “unprecedented seizure” of the unarmed survey vessel.
This situation, he had said at the time, would have been avoided altogether if the government heeded the recommendations made over a decade ago.
He pointed out that in 2001, the Border and National Security Committee, which he co-chaired, compiled a report which made several recommendations, including for consultations at the highest level to discuss and resolve issues pertaining to border and national security. Such discussions were to take place between the President and the Leader of the Opposition since, “this level of engagement represents the core of the bi-partisan approach.”
The release yesterday suggested that Harper direct her remarks to the PPP/C, President Donald Ramotar and the serving Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“One thing is clear, the PPP/C’s prime ministerial candidate was either ‘set-up’ by her own camp or worst woefully misinformed on matters that should have had her undivided attention,” the release added.
