While declaring that Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo has the full backing of the administration, State Minister Joseph Harmon yesterday said government will not be engaging the PPP in the press over its concerns about him leading its delegation in unity talks with the opposition party.
“I would not venture to give any answer to the PPP or anyone who decides that they need to engage us in the press. Let Mr. Jagdeo, Mr. Rohee and the PPP come to us and say we don’t want to talk to you because Nagamootoo is there…. As of now, that is our team. The Prime Minister has the fullest confidence of this administration. We believe that he is a fair and just person who is capable to leading our team in the unity talks with the PPP/C,” Harmon told reporters during a post-Cabinet press briefing at Ministry of Presidency.
“We will engage that party sitting face to face across the table and making decisions which are in the interest of this country,” he added, while reiterating that government will not be engaging the PPP in the press.
He said that if there are concerns about the delegation, then as a “responsible political party” the PPP should put it in writing or communicate it directly.
The PPP’s leaders have said Nagamootoo’s presence has poisoned the engagement. In a statement issued last week, the party said in light of the “dim view” it has of the Prime Minister, the government must know that the talks will go nowhere once he remains as head of the team.
“Thus, by pushing Nagamootoo centre-stage it is now pellucidly clear that the Coalition objective is not to have any talks at all but to put the PPP/C on the defensive and to project the Party as refusing to engage in talks with the government. The entire affair therefore smacks of a political gimmick,” the party said in a statement.
Elections commissioners
Meanwhile, Harmon yesterday announced that the president should be appointing the nominees identified by the PPP/C as elections commissioners early next week.
He said that following the resignation of two PPP/C-nominated commissioners, two replacements—Robeson Benn and Bibi Shadick—were identified to the president. “It is the intention of the president to have those commissioners sworn in by Tuesday of next week,” he said.
On Thursday, the PPP said it was concerned at the delay by the president in appointing Benn and Shadick.
It said pursuant to Article 161 (3)(b) of the Constitution, Benn and Shadick have been named as the replacements for Mahmood Shaw and Athmaran Mangar.
“The party now calls on the president to act with commensurate dispatch and appoint Mr. Benn and Shadick so that there is a fully constituted Guyana Elections Commission in the face of the impending Local Govern-ment Elections,” the PPP urged, while noting that opposition leader Bharrat Jagdeo wrote to Granger on September 3rd advising of the nominees.
The absence of these members is hampering the PPP’s representation on the commission, the party added.
