Minister of State Joseph Harmon has rejected claims by Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo that government has perpetuated a fraudulent act by sending two letters to the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and encouraged Jagdeo to reconsider attending a meeting with President David Granger on Wednesday (see other story on page 2.)
Additionally, he has condemned the Leader of the Opposition for descending “to a new level of disrespect for the Office of the President and the Government by maligning the good character of the President and his office and by deliberately, maliciously misleading the public.”
“The Government of Guyana firmly rejects and condemns as malicious and deceitful, statements made by Leader of the Opposition…at his press conference today, where he accused President David Granger and his Administration of fraudulent behaviour through the issuance of two separate letters to the Chairman of GECOM,” a statement from the Ministry of the Presidency said.
Yesterday, at his Church Street office Jagdeo said that the letter sent to GECOM was not the same as that which was released to the public and maintained for most of the engagement that the letter had been “altered”.
“This is a fraudulent act,” he continuously repeated while reporters tried to draw his attention to the fact that it was in actuality two and not one letter.
“The first letter was not doctored,” Harmon answered in response noting that the second letter was “aimed at finding out the amount of money needed to conduct credible elections.”
He explained that Granger received a letter from GECOM Chairman Justice (Rtd) James Patterson on Monday and immediately issued a response.
The response was contained in a letter dated February 25th. In it Granger indicated that “the Government of Guyana is committed to doing everything possible to ensure that the commission is provided with the financial resources and has sufficient time to conduct credible elections.”
He added, “I urge the commission, therefore, to commence preparations for the conduct of [General and Regional Elections]” and committed to seek parliamentary approval to “ensure that an agreement can be reached given both the constitutional requirement and GECOM’s capability.”
The second letter also dated February 25 references the first letter written. In this letter the President requests to initiate consultations with Patterson on the readiness of GECOM for the conduct of general and regional elections in 2019. He also noted that GECOM, as a constitutional agency, would require a new appropriation of funds approved by the National Assembly for the conduct of the polls.
“How could you now say that this is something that is doctored when the author of the letter, acknowledges that [they] sent one and this is the second one I am sending?” Harmon queried.
The Minister of Government further argued that “to accuse the President of fraud is to in fact accuse him of committing an act of deceiving or misrepresenting even though Chairman Patterson did not say that he felt deceived or that there was any misrepresentation in what the President said.
“The President has never descended to that level to describe Mr. Jagdeo or anybody in that way that he is now seeking to describe the President with disrespect. This is an attack on the religion of the President, an attack on order and good governance and he must be condemned in the strongest possible terms for this level to which he has sunk in this press conference. I am also calling on all right-thinking Guyanese to condemn the Leader of the Opposition for this level to which he has sunk and for which he is trying to take the society, into the pit to which he has descended,” the Minister of State declared.
Meanwhile, he challenged Jagdeo to respond to the President’s invitation as “protocol demands.”
“One would expect that under normal decency and by virtue of democratic behaviour, the Leader of the Opposition would respond to the President indicating whether he would attend that meeting or not, but not to hear in the Media that he has said that he is not attending,
Saying that there is enough time before the March 6 meeting for the Opposition Leader to reconsider his decision to accept the President’s invitation, Harmon reiterated that “we have always said that the President is prepared to engage with the Leader of the Opposition on any matter of national interest. We consider this to be one such matter and therefore that is why the President invited him.”
“So it is our hope that after mature consideration, the Leader of the Opposition will change that stance which he has taken today and attend the meeting,” he concluded.
