President David Granger yesterday said he is still confident that unity talks between the government and the opposition can materialize and he is not worried about a recent statement by General Secretary of the PPP Clement Rohee who said that his party had not agreed to the talks.
Speaking to reporters at his office following the swearing of the two new commissioners representing the PPP on the Guyana Elections Commission, the President said he did not believe that the talks have been “ditched or dismissed.”
He pointed out that he would have had a meeting with Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo during which he indicated that some of the matters that were raised needed to be the subject of consultation with the rest of the PPP.
“I don’t want to go into more details. I did have the meeting with Mr Jagdeo and certain matters were raised and he indicated that he wanted to consult his colleagues.
I am holding him to that. He said he wants to consult his colleagues and we can meet again when he wants, or when we want. I can meet him anytime, anywhere,” the President said.
And while Rohee at a press conference on Monday had indicated that there was no formal invitation to the opposition for the talks, President Granger said he believes the first invitation was adequate and that the door is now open for further meetings.
“…We have established contact between Mr Jagdeo and his side and somebody on our side. High level contact and between those two persons they are capable of reconvening meetings within a day’s notice,” the Head of State said.
The President said he was not worried about the statement made by Rohee as he believes there is a high possibility of the talks adding that his government is committed to ensuring those talks proceed and “at present they will proceed at the pace determined by the PPP/C and the government.
“I am not worried about that I am very confident that the Guyanese people would see a higher level of political collaboration than before,” he stated.
“…The APNU+AFC must be aware that the PPP is in no way desperate to engage both the APNU+AFC. This will be tantamount to a double kiss of death for the PPP; a reality it cannot ignore,” Rohee had said on Monday.
“Cooperation within the parliamentary structure and arrangements cannot be avoided but engagement with the APNU+AFC outside of Parliament is clearly political and there is no guarantee that agreements reached will find their way in the appropriate body to make them legally binding,” he added.
The PPP has also publicly said that it would not engage in talks with a team headed by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, who the government has named to head its unity team.
