Former President David Granger has suggested that if President Irfaan Ali is truly interested in “accelerating Guyana’s development” he will engage with the Opposition Leader as required by the Constitution rather than hold lunch meetings with his predecessors.
“If we are talking about Guyana’s development how could we rule out the Leader of the Opposition? How we could we rule out the National Assembly? How could we rule out 31 parliamentarians? What am I going to do there that can actually accelerate Guyana’s development [when] a former President doesn’t have a constitutional role?” Granger asked during the most recent edition of his party’s Public Interest Programme.
The former president stressed that while he is not likely to turn away from an opportunity to develop Guyana he is also not going to waste time.
“I was not satisfied that there was anything on the table other than soup,” he said of the December 15 meeting.
It’s like walking in space, he said of the meeting asking whether decisions made would be taken to Cabinet for discussion and action or discarded.
“If we are going to create a new forum outside of the constitution, someone must explain to me how the discussions and deliberations and the decisions we take are going to be incorporated. Five minutes later, they could be thrown in the waste paper basket,” Granger noted, adding that since all other invitees are part of the party in government he would’ve been at a disadvantage for lack of opportunity to prepare and therefore been unable to contribute meaningfully or ensure his views are acted upon.
The meeting had been convened at Ali’s behest through the office of the Minister of Governance and Parliamentary Affairs, Gail Teixeira.
On December 4th, 2020, Teixeira, on behalf of Ali, had formally invited Granger to a lunch meeting of former presidents.
One week later, Granger responded to the invitation with a recommendation that the meeting be deferred until several “important issues” are satisfactorily settled.
A statement from his party, the PNCR, said Granger “felt that it would be a blunder to ignore the legitimate concerns of a significant section of the population and the aspirations of the majority of our people, especially those enduring the privations of the pandemic.”
He stressed that there is public concern about certain governmental actions – including the high rates of deaths as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; unwarranted dismissals of public servants; harassment of Elections Commission officials and human rights violations. He further highlighted that the letter he received from Teixeira neither explained amply the purpose of the intended meeting nor recommended an agenda for examination. Ali refused to accede to this request and the meeting was held in Granger’s absence.
The President later announced that the meetings would be held each quarter and that Granger holds an open invitation.
Comments from the leader of the APNU+AFC Coalition however suggested that he is unlikely in the near future to accept that invitation.
“Serious things are happening…the public doesn’t want to see people having lunch when they don’t have a job and there is no Christmas for them. When people are dying and being dismissed they don’t want to see you having lunch and talking about issues not related to their wellbeing,” he explained.
