Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday announced that he would meet with President David Granger today and he offered the parliamentary support needed to extend the deadline for the holding of new polls if conditions, including an elections date before April 30th, are agreed to by government.
In what he called a “last attempt” to offer government a way out of an impending “constitutional crisis,” given the approaching March 21st deadline for polls in light of the passage of a no-confidence motion against government, Jagdeo agreed to take up the invitation to meet after receiving word from State Minister Joseph Harmon that Granger was prepared to meet him on his proposals raised.
A statement from the Office of the Leader of the Opposition last evening noted Jagdeo’s apprehensions about the engagement but said he would meet with the Head of State in the national interest.
“Nevertheless, having been approached by many Guyanese, civil society bodies and members of the diplomatic corps to make one last attempt to avert the constitutional crisis that the President, with a complicit GECOM [Guyana Elections Commission], is leading our nation into, the Leader of the Opposition is prepared to make one more good-faith attempt in the interest of the nation, and, will attend the meeting,” the statement said, while calling Jagdeo’s attendance the “last attempt” by the opposition “to offer government a way out of the constitutional crisis” and “to keep Guyana in the democratic fold of nations.”
“Tomorrow will be a test of the integrity, credibility and sincerity of the President; he will be tested as to whether he can be trusted `as a man of his word’ to put our nation, its future and its people first on a foundation of constitutional and parliamentary democracy. This will be a test as to whether the constitution or ‘power lust’ wins out,” the statement added.
The meeting is scheduled for 11 am at the Ministry of the Presidency.
On February 25th, Harmon wrote Jagdeo inviting him to a meeting with the president today focused on the National Assembly’s constitutional role in the present situation and GECOM’s readiness and requirement for funding to enable it conduct general and regional elections.
“The President wishes to advise that he has written to the Chairman of GECOM urging him to initiate arrangements for the conduct of General and Regional Elections and committing to supporting his request for financing those elections,” the letter further stated.
Jagdeo subsequently said he would not meet Granger unless a date for general and regional elections was on the agenda.
In his official reply to Harmon Monday, however, Jagdeo proposed that the meeting focus “exclusively on the date for these elections” and also proposed several conditions, which included the naming of a date for elections before the expiration of the validity of the present voters’ list on April 30, 2019 and a cessation to the awarding of contracts by the state after March 21, 2019.
In the letter to Harmon, he said “…the Guyana Constitution is the supreme law of Guyana, and, therefore, the proposed meeting can only and must only focus on ensuring that the Constitution is not violated, and, that general and regional elections are held in compliance with Article 106(6) and 106(7) following the December 21, 2018 passage of the No-confidence motion.”
He then proposed for the consideration of President Granger that,
i) The date of the general and regional elections to be held before expiration of the present voters’ list on April 30, 2019;
ii) No new contracts to be awarded by the State, including Regional Democratic Councils, and, State-owned corporations after March 21, 2019;
iii) No new agreements, loans, grants, land leases, or any such agreements or contracts after March 21, 2019, that bind Government;
iv) No abuse of State resources for partisan activities/purposes;
v) Access to the state-owned media by all the contesting political parties.
He said that on the agreement of the government to these proposals, the parliamentary opposition would be prepared to lend its support for the two-thirds majority required to comply with Article 106(7) for an extension of the period for elections beyond March 21st, 2019.
“If my proposal finds favour with the President, I shall be prepared to meet him on March 6, 2019 at 11 am or at any other time. However, time is of the essence, March 21, 2019, when the government becomes unconstitutional, is fast approaching,” he warned.
Harmon replied to Jagdeo yesterday and said that the contents of Jagdeo’s letter was conveyed to the President and he agreed to meeting where “issues raised” in the letter would be discussed.
GECOM has already advised Granger that it cannot deliver credible polls within the three-month time-frame from December 21st, 2018 and that additional funds need to be provided.
Consequently, Granger wrote to GECOM Chairman James Patterson last week urging that GECOM begin preparations for polls and indicating that he would “seek the approval of the National Assembly to ensure that an agreement can be reached given both the constitutional requirement and GECOM’s capability.”
It is against this background that Jagdeo was invited to meet with the president today.
